MARK 

MANNA 

HIS  BOOK 


ii 


SOCIALISM  8c  LABOR  UNIONS 
WM.MS  KINLEY  AS  I  KNEW  HIM 


/^intuit 

[  LIBRARY 

1     UNIVERSITY  OF 
V     CALIFORNIA 


MARK  HANNA 

HIS  BOOK 


With  an  Introduction  by 

JOE  MITCHELL  CH APPLE 


BOSTON 

The  Chappie  Publishing  Co.,  Ltd. 
1904 


Copyright,  1904 

BY 

THE  CHAPPLE  PUB.  Co.,  LTD. 


LOAN  STACK 


Che 


SAMUEL    USHER 

176  TO  184  HIGH  STREET 

•OSTON,   MASS. 


Hi  A 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

SOCIALISM  AND  THE  LABOR  UNIONS        .         .       30 
WILLIAM   McKiNLEY  AS  I  KNEW  HIM: 

I.    His  MASTERLY  CAMPAIGNS   .         .         .46 

II.    GLIMPSES  OF  His  PERSONALITY  .         .       60 

III.    IN  THE  WHITE  HOUSE          ...       74 


991 


INTRODUCTION 

A  SHORT  time  prior  to  his  death,  I  sat  at  the 
feet  of  one  whom  I  consider  the  greatest  giver 
of  power  I  have  ever  known  among  men.  It 
was  during  the  early  hours  of  Sunday,  in  his 
room  at  the  Arlington  Hotel  in  Washington, 
that  I  sat  for  three  hours  and  heard  a  sermon 
the  like  of  which  I  never  listened  to  before. 
There  was  no  text  from  Holy  Writ,  but  rather 
from  the  human  heart  was  the  lesson  drawn. 
It  seemed  as  though  in  those  serene  moments, 
in  the  quietude  that  always  clings  to  the  day 
of  rest,  he  spoke  words  that  were  almost  super 
natural.  His  great  heart  seemed  to  well  up 
in  sympathy  for  humanity,  as  he  outlined  the 
great  culminating  idea  of  his  life-work.  In  that 
hour  he  gave  forth  a  message  to  the  world  that, 
reduced  to  writing  and  published  in  the  National 
Magazine  for  February,  1904,  won  the  appro 
bation  of  the  whole  country.  Those  brown 
and  brilliant  eyes  glistened  afresh  with  the 
deep  feeling  that  filled  his  breast.  His  words, 

5 


6  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

listened  to  with  rapt  attention,  were  freighted 
with  wisdom,  affection  and  kindliness,  impress 
ive  of  his  greatness  as  a  man  and  a  statesman. 
His  serenity  and  gentleness  emphasized  the 
grandeur  of  his  character  as  husband,  father, 
brother,  friend,  statesman,  philanthropist  and 
patriot. 

As  he  sat  there  straight  before  his  desk  talk 
ing,  I  looked  at  the  kind  features  which  I  had 
grown  to  love  as  dearly  as  those  of  my  own 
father,  and  was  struck  anew  with  his  remark 
able  resemblance  to  William  McKinley  ;  and 
somehow  the  thought  flashed  over  me  as  I 
listened  in  almost  breathless  wonder,  —  "Is 
this  to  be  the  last  message  of  our  beloved  chief 
tain?  Is  all  this  to  sum  up  in  one  utterance 
his  final  counsel  and  admonition  to  his  country 
men,  as  did  that  memorable  last  speech  of 
William  McKinley  at  Buffalo?" 

I  shuddered  at  the  thought,  but  yet  there 
was  in  the  Senator's  face  a  pallor,  and  in  his 
frame  a  perceptible  languor,  that  told  how 
freely  and  unselfishly  he  had  given  his  vital 
force  as  an  offering  to  his  country  and  his 
fellowmen. 


Introduction  7 

It  was  in  this  last  talk  that  he  told  me  many 
details  of  his  early  life  —  how  at  college  he 
"  was  a  boy,  and  a  real  boy  at  that,"  he  play 
fully  said.  He  told  how  he  had  joined  in  a 
plot  to  break  up  the  junior  exhibition  when 
one  of  the  president's  sons  was  in  the  class. 
A  copy  of  the  program  was  secured,  and  late 
that  night  he  drove  into  Cleveland,  roused  a 
printer  out  of  bed  and  had  printed  a  satire  on 
11  The  Ubiquitous  Juniors."  Returning  at  early 
dawn,  the  problem  was  how  to  distribute  the 
programs.  After  canvassing  the  matter  in  secret 
caucus,  it  was  finally  decided  that  "  Mark  " 
would  have  to  do  it.  So  he  marched  boldly 
into  the  chapel  that  morning  with  arms  full  of 
satirical  matter,  which  he  scattered  like  the 
leaves  of  Autumn,  up  one  aisle  and  down  the 
other,  with  the  distinguished  faculty  chasing  him 
even  to  his  room.  He  was  brought  before  the 
august  fathers  of  the  college,  and  in  manly 
fashion  told  them  he  was  the  ringleader  and 
was  willing  to  take  the  consequences;  but  he 
protected  his  chums,  who  were  in  the  mean 
time  carrying  on  the  well-defined  plan  out 
lined  on  the  programs,  which  delightfully 


8  Mark  Banna:  His  Book 

mixed  everything  up.  The  junior  exhibition 
was  as  inglorious  as  even  their  hearts  could 
wish,  but  the  future  Senator  left  college. 

Later,  clad  in  overalls  and  rolling  pork 
barrels  about  for  shipment,  he  was  met  by  the 
president  of  that  college.  There  was  a  cordial 
greeting,  and  young  Hanna  tried  to  impress  upon 
his  former  instructor  just  how  much  the  college 
had  missed  when  it  dispensed  with  his  presence ; 
but  the  president  eyed  him  gravely  from  head 
to  foot  and  said,  "  Well,  Mark,  you  have  just 
about  reached  your  right  place  this  time." 

But  those  pork  barrels  were  rolled  and  man 
aged  with  the  aggressive  power  and  activity 
that  characterized  the  statesman  of  a  later  day. 


It  was  on  this  last  Sunday  that  the  Senator 
related  to  me  one  of  the  most  touching  and  ten 
der  incidents  of  his  earlier  years.  He  prefaced 
it  by  stating  that  he  was  past  twenty-five 
years  of  age  before  he  ever  tasted  intoxica 
ting  liquor  of  any  kind.  During  those  early 
days  when  he  was  associated  in  Cleveland  with 
high-spirited  young  men  of  ample  means, 
his  father's  heart  was  apprehensive,  as  the 


Introduction  9 

heart  of  almost  every  father  is  apt  to  be  for 
sons  of  tender  age.  The  elder  Hanna  was  rigid 
and  uncompromising  in  his  total  abstinence 
principles,  and  often  said  he  would  rather  see 
his  boy  brought  home  in  a  coffin  than  stagger 
ing  home  drunk.  For  this  reason  Marcus 
never  had  a  latchkey,  but  every  time  he  came 
home  late  his  father  would  get  up  and  let  him 
in.  And  surely  no  father  ever  watched  over  a 
son  with  more  solicitude;  but  young  Hanna 
rebelled  and  even  appealed  to  his  mother 
for  a  latchkey. 

"  Mother,"  said  he,  "  you  can  trust  me. 
Whenever  I  touch  a  drop  of  liquor  I  will  give 
you  back  this  key." 

What  a  splendid  proof  of  the  confidence 
between  mother  and  son  is  here;  and  he 
obtained  not  only  the  key  to  her  home  at  that 
time,  but  retained  the  key  to  her  heart  to  her 
dying  day.  Needless  to  say,  he  was  true  to 
his  word,  and  no  incident  in  his  whole  life,  it 
seems  to  me,  reveals  the  sterling  worth  in 
the  character  of  the  man  better  than  this. 

When  he  related  this  story  to  Mr.  Dover 
and  myself  he  especially  requested  that  it 


io  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

should  never  be  made  public  during  his  life 
time.  "  Because,"  as  he  said,  "  these  things 
are  apt  to  be  misunderstood,  and  I  prefer  to 
have  the  people  appreciate  me  for  my  public 
work  and  nothing  else." 


A  contemporary  of  John  D.  Rockefeller,  he 
reached  manhood  in  the  dawn  of  the  great 
business  era  of  the  country,  and  the  keen  brown 
eyes  of  Mark  Hanna  pierced  the  veil  of  the 
future;  his  associates  of  those  earlier  days 
always  felt  that  he  had  a  power  that  was 
bound  to  win  success  sooner  or  later.  As  the 
country  evolved  from  the  pioneer  to  the 
developed  stage,  he  became  a  business  man 
whose  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond  and 
whose  dealings  were  always  marked  by  exact 
justice  and  fairness.  All  these  years  of  expe 
rience  accumulated  and  accentuated  the  keen 
common  sense  and  business  capacity  that  he 
gave  to  the  country  in  later  years. 

A  young  lieutenant  in  the  Union  army,  he 
went  to  the  front  at  Bull  Run,  and  never  wav 
ered  in  his  patriotic  devotion  to  his  country. 
At  Washington  he  saw  for  the  first  time  a 


Introduction  1 1 

President,  —  the  tall,  gaunt  figure  wearing  a 
beaver  hat  and  shawl  wound  about  thin 
shoulders.  Little  did  he  think  that  he  would 
some  day  name  a  friend  as  Lincoln's  successor. 
When  the  megaphone  rang  out  in  the  soli 
tary  woods  of  the  Adirondacks,  it  called 
Theodore  Roosevelt  to  be  President  of  the 
United  States  and  pledged  to  him  the  friend 
ship  of  McKinley's  right-hand  man.  When, 
later,  in  the  parlor  at  Buffalo  the  oath  of 
office  was  administered  to  Roosevelt,  one  of 
the  first  to  pledge  him  unswerving  loyalty 
and  friendship  in  carrying  out  the  policy  of 
McKinley  was  Mark  Hanna;  and  in  all  the 
intrigue  of  political  warfare,  in  all  the  tempta 
tions  of  power  and  position,  —  with  the  presi 
dency  itself  within  his  grasp,  —  I  know,  what 
every  friend  of  Mark  Hanna  knows,  that  he 
stood  firm  and  steadfast  by  his  word. 

It  would  be  difficult  in  searching  the  history 
of  nations  to  find  a  man  more  simple  in  his 
greatness  and  more  honest  and  just  in  his 
dealings  —  a  man  so  straightforward  that  he 
almost  lacked  tact.  Prevarication  of  any  sort 
was  abhorrent  to  him;  his  great  rugged  hon- 


12  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

esty  stands  as  an  ideal  for  young  American 
citizens.  Like  Oliver  Cromwell,  he  came  late 
in  life  into  the  political  arena,  but,  unlike  that 
stern  statesman,  he  retained  his  popularity 
to  the  last  moment.  Senator  Hanna  passed 
away  only  after  he  had  given  his  supreme 
effort  to  his  country  for  peace  and  good  will 
between  labor  and  capital.  He  died  in  the  har 
ness,  as  he  often  wished  to  do,  and  departed 
with  the  well-earned  laurels  unwithered  on  his 
brow.  If  there  was  any  one  thing  that  he  es 
pecially  appreciated  in  his  last  days  above  all 
else,  it  was  the  fact  that  the  American  people 
had  come  at  last  to  understand  him.  Car 
tooned,  maligned  and  abused  as  few  public 
men  have  ever  been,  he  forgot  and  forgave  it 
all  in  the  sweet,  inspiring  moment  of  his  con 
quest  over  prejudice  and  blind  passion. 

The  great  victory  of  1903  in  Ohio  was  a 
personal  tribute  to  Mark  Hanna  as  a  man 
and  a  statesman.  His  popularity  steadily  in 
creased  since  those  days,  as  was  shown  by  the 
many  messages  of  love  and  admiration  that 
were  sent  to  him  during  the  last  few  months  of 
his  life  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  And  they 


Introduction  13 

were  a  great  source  of  gratification,  not  to  his 
vanity,  —  for  he  had  none  of  that,  —  but  rather 
to  his  patriotism  and  his  great  human  heart; 
for  it  was  sweet  to  know  that  the  country  that 
he  loved  reciprocated  that  affection.  From 
the  North  and  from  all  portions  of  the  South, 
from  the  Lone  Star  State  especially,  from  the 
great  West  and  the  calmer  but  not  colder 
East,  came  showers  of  tributes  of  love  and 
admiration,  such  words  as  have  seldom  been 
as  freely  bestowed  upon  any  statesman; 
and  yet  through  it  all  he  remained  the  same,  — 
simple,  sweet,  candid,  but  of  positive  opinions 
and  honest  always. 

I  must  here  and  now  pay  my  personal  trib 
ute  by  saying  that  the  success  of  the  National 
Magazine  was  made  possible  through  Senator 
Hanna.  It  was  he  who  gave  the  first  friendly 
grasp  of  the  hand  and  insisted  that  it  could  be 
made  a  success.  It  was  he  who  withstood  all 
other  offers  of  larger  and  greater  publications 
to  become  a  contributor,  preferring  rather  to 
give  what  he  intended  to  write  to  those  whom 
he  felt  it  would  most  help.  And  from  the 


14  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

moment  that  his  first  article  on  "  McKinley  as 
I  Knew  Him ' '  was  published  in  the  National 
Magazine,  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  that 
periodical  seemed  assured.  His  only  protest 
to  me  was,  "  Don't  put  so  much  '  Hanna  '  in 
the  National!"  And  when  I  insisted  that 
that  was  what  made  the  magazine  popular, 
he  would  blush  like  a  boy  and  declare  that  if 
I  persisted  he  would  sever  all  relations  with 
me. 

Among  the  treasures  that  I  possess  are  the 
first  pages  of  the  article  on  "  McKinley  as  I 
Knew  Him,"  written  by  Mark  Hanna  for  the 
National  Magazine,  and  which  was,  in  fact, 
the  first  contribution  he  ever  made  to  any 
periodical.  There  is  something  pathetic  in 
these  first  pages,  indicating  the  difficulty  he 
had  in  writing  about  his  friend  in  such  a  man 
ner  as  to  do  him  such  justice  as  may  be  done 
by  human  judgment.  These  pages  had  been 
torn  up  and  cast  aside  in  the  waste-basket  as 
worthless  when  I  rescued  them ;  but  they  serve, 
to  my  mind,  to  show  the  courage  and  persist 
ence  of  the  man  in  accomplishing  what  he  had 
undertaken,  and  not  only  the  accomplishment 


Introduction  1 5 

but  in  not  being  satisfied  with  less  than  his 
"  level  best."  That  all  this  work  was  done 
as  a  labor  of  love  there  can  be  no  doubt;  and 
this  and  all  his  writings  show  that,  though  he 
entered  this  field  late  in  life,  he  had  sterling 
natural  gifts  as  a  writer.  The  simplicity  and 
lucidity  of  his  style  make  his  writings  more 
valuable  than  many  more  ornate  compositions ; 
and  in  all  he  wrote  there  was  the  simplicity 
and  sincerity  that  wins  the  hearts  of  the  great 
American  people  for  whom  he  wrote. 


I  can  never  forget  the  day  following  the  death 
of  William  McKinley,  when,  with  tears  stream 
ing  down  his  face,  the  Senator  told  me  of  the 
keen  sense  of  loss  and  loneliness  that  lay  like  a 
pall  upon  him;  nor  how,  in  all  he  ever  said 
or  wrote  of  his  friend,  he  never  took  the  slight 
est  credit  to  himself  for  any  part  of  McKinley's 
greatness.  His  own  efforts  were  but  as  the 
dust  in  the  balance,  compared  with  his  friend's 
excellence.  Many  a  time  as  we  traveled  to 
gether,  as  the  train  flew  on  its  way,  the  time 
to  me  flew  even  faster  listening  to  such  "  tales 
sublime  "  as  might  well  grace  the  pages  of  the 
greatest  history. 


1 6  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

I  recall  also  what  an  inspiration  there  was 
in  his  cheering  face  in  the  moment  of  despair 
or  difficulty,  and  how  that  face  lit  up  when 
the  hour  of  victory  came  for  his  friends.  I  well 
remember  his  radiant  face  at  the  Philadelphia 
Convention,  in  1900,  when,  as  chairman,  he 
waved  the  great  plumes  incessantly  for  ten  or 
fifteen  minutes  while  the  throng  of  people 
cheered  for  William  McKinley.  And  as  I 
climbed  on  the  platform  during  a  moment 
of  chaos,  he  turned  to  me  and,  with  his  eyes 
glistening,  cried:  "  You  here,  Joe?  Isn't  this 
glorious?  Take  a  plume  and  whoop  'er  up!  " 

After  the  convention  adjourned  we  held 
converse  in  husky  voices,  and  he  brought  forth 
a  box  of  trophies  with  the  remark,  "  Now  we 
want  to  get  right  out  for  the  campaign." 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  meet  him  fre 
quently  during  the  last  years  of  his  life;  and 
while  he  was  admonishing  me  to  ease  the  pace 
at  which  I  was  going,  there  was  he  setting  me 
a  pace,  in  his  sixty-sixth  year,  that  it  was 
impossible  for  me  to  keep  up  to,  in  the  matter 
of  traveling.  First  he  was  at  the  Civic  Fed 
eration  meeting  in  Chicago,  spending  hours  in 


Introduction  1 7 

earnest  conference  with  the  labor  leaders; 
within  a  day  or  two,  perhaps,  at  a  leading  finan 
cial  meeting  in  New  York;  the  day  following, 
taking  his  simple  luncheon  in  his  office  in 
Cleveland,  because  he  had  not  time  for  a  regu 
lar  midday  meal;  then  at  a  directors'  meet 
ing,  and  half  a  dozen  other  meetings,  but  never 
for  one  moment  losing  his  grasp  on  the  chief 
factors  in  his  program. 


In  all  the  years  in  which  he  was  engaged  in 
business,  no  word  against  him  was  ever  uttered 
by  the  real  workingmen.  The  idlers,  it  is 
true,  did  not  admire  him.  Why  was  it  that 
the  great  factories  were  stopped  during  the 
last  illness  of  this  man,  and  that  thousands 
of  men  would  leave  their  work  unfinished  at 
the  desk  or  bench  to  get  one  word  of  possible 
comfort  or  hope  as  to  his  welfare,  or  at  least  to 
ask  assurance  that  he  was  still  living?  Was 
ever  tribute  paid  to  any  American  more  touch 
ing  than  this?  And  what  more  is  needed  to 
indicate  where  the  great  mission  of  Senator 
Hanna  lay,  or  what  his  great  lifework  was? 
His  last,  best  efforts  were  given  to  the  closing 


1 8  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

of  the  breach  between  labor  and  capital;  this 
work  of  his  is  not  only  fairly  begun,  but  it  is 
well  done  and  will  last  for  all  time  as  the 
foundation  stone  on  which  the  future  edifice 
may  stand  with  safety.  His  influence  it  was 
that  brought  broader  ideas  to  both  sides  in  the 
conflict,  and  especially  does  his  lifework  stand 
for  humane  and  just  treatment  of  employees. 
As  the  scroll  of  history  unfolds  and  shows  how 
this  great  problem  has  confronted  our  nation 
in  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century,  the 
fruition  of  the  hopes  that  Marcus  A.  Hanna 
carried  to  his  dying  day  will  be  realized  in  the 
sound  adjustment  of  this  vexed  question. 


It  was  in  the  office  of  the  Auditorium  at 
Chicago,  after  he  had  returned  from  a  weari 
some  meeting  of  the  Civic  Federation,  that 
I  sat  down  for  a  smoke  and  talk  in  an  obscure 
corner  with  Mr.  Hanna.  Presently  a  Salva 
tion  Army  lass  came  along,  rattling  her  tam 
bourine  for  quarters,  or  pence,  as  the  case 
might  be.  The  Senator  glanced  up  and  saw 
who  she  was,  then  placed  a  contribution  in  the 


Introduction  19 

tambourine  that  made  mine  look  like  thirty 
cents.  Pretty  soon  she  came  back. 

"  Why,  sir,  did  you  know  that  this  was  a 
ten-dollar  bill?" 

"  Yes,"  he  said;  "  I  knew  it.  You  belong 
to  my  church." 

Then  she  looked  a  little  closer. 

"  Why,  it  is  Senator  Hanna!  "  she  cried, 
and  that  explained  it  all.  Nothing  more  was 
necessary,  for  if  the  Salvation  Army  ever  had 
a  true  friend,  it  had  one  in  Senator  Hanna. 
During  the  visit  of  General  Booth  to  this  coun 
try  it  was  the  Senator  who  gave  the  famous 
dinner  at  the  Arlington,  where  the  great  leader 
of  the  Salvation  Army  related  such  touching 
incidents  that  he  drew  tears  from  the  eyes  of 
the  guests.  It  was  Mark  Hanna  who  had  this 
great  leader  offer  a  prayer  and  benediction  in 
the  Senate  that  sent  a  thrill  through  all  who 
heard  —  a  distinguished  circle  of  senators, 
diplomats  and  statesmen. 


The  life  of  Senator  Hanna,  more  than  that 
of  any  other  prominent  man,  seemed  to  typify 
the  American  life  of  to-day.  He  understood 


20  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

intimately  and  sympathetically  all  phases  of  the 
varied  needs  of  the  people.  It  was  an  inspira 
tion  to  have  such  a  leader.  He  was  a  captain 
of  industry  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term.  He 
was  also  a  statesman  in  all  that  the  modern 
use  of  the  word  implies,  showing  equally  broad 
comprehension  and  versatility  on  political  prob 
lems  and  business  propositions.  He  recognized 
business  as  the  genius  of  the  age,  and  was  not 
blind  to  any  of  the  salient  points  of  a  propo 
sition,  notwithstanding  they  might  be  offset  by 
sentimental  side  issues.  It  was  a  picture  to  be 
remembered  to  see  him  enter  the  Senate  with 
his  little  cane,  and  limp  to  his  seat,  serene  and 
strong,  "  four  square  to  every  wind  that  blew." 
To  see  his  confreres  gathered  about  him  after  a 
great  victory  —  such  as  when,  with  a  single  brief 
speech,  he  reversed  the  vote  of  the  Senate  on  the 
Isthmian  Canal  question,  conquering  through 
the  sheer  force  of  his  honesty  and  integrity, 
acknowledged  alike  by  partisans  and  opponents 
—  was  an  inspiration  indeed. 


I  liked  to  see  him  on  a  hot  summer  day  in 
his  office  at  Cleveland,  far  above  the  seething, 


Introduction  2 1 

smoking  heat  of  the  factory,  working  away  in 
his  shirt  sleeves  with  all  the  vigor  and  energy 
of  a  man  in  his  prime.  I  have  often  noticed 
that  he  never  sat  sidewise  at  his  desk,  but 
tackled  his  work  square  front,  and  erect. 

A  visit  to  his  beautiful  Cleveland  home,  "  Lake 
View,"  was  a  rare  treat  indeed.  It  was  as  a 
host  that  Mark  Hanna  was  at  his  very  best; 
it  was  to  this  home  that  President  McKinley 
loved  to  come  during  the  trying  days  that  pre 
ceded  his  election  to  the  presidency.  That 
home  is  the  Mecca  of  all  Hanna's  admirers  — 
rich,  yet  simple  and  tasteful,  in  harmony  with 
the  spirit  of  its  master.  It  was  in  the  library 
here  that  he  gave  me  the  soundest  advice  I 
have  ever  received.  He  loved  mankind,  and 
his  every  act  bore  witness  to  that  sentiment. 
I  think  that  in  the  walks  I  had  with  him  I  came 
to  know  him  best,  for  he  was  capable  of  in 
spiring  and  satisfying  friendship  in  the  highest 
meaning  of  the  word;  and  during  these  quiet 
hours  I  heard  from  his  lips  words  freighted 
with  deep  thoughts,  full  of  the  tender  solici 
tude  that  a  father  might  show  a  son  or  a  man 
younger  than  himself  who  had  yet  to  live 


22  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

through  the  struggle  that  he  had  passed  over 
so  successfully.  In  the  briefest  phrases,  some 
times,  in  disconnected  sentences,  the  innate 
feelings  of  the  man  were  revealed,  interspersed 
with  flashes  of  wit  and  humor. 


I  have  not  spoken  of  his  keen  insight  into 
character  and  his  remarkable  faculty  for  choos 
ing  the  right  men  to  help  in  his  great  undertak 
ings.  Notable  among  those  so  selected  is  his 
private  secretary,  Elmer  Dover,  now  secretary 
of  the  Republican  National  Committee,  than 
whom  a  more  loyal,  faithful  and  capable  secre 
tary  never  lived.  As  the  Senator's  political 
work  increased,  to  say  nothing  of  his  business 
enterprises,  the  tremendous  load  must  have 
swamped  him  but  for  the  constant,  careful  at 
tention  of  Mr.  Dover,  whose  perfect  knowledge 
of  all  Mr.  Hanna's  affairs  made  it  difficult  to 
distinguish  the  work  of  the  one  from  the  other. 
In  view  of  the  hundreds  of  letters  and  tele 
grams  that  came  daily  to  him,  it  was  often 
necessary  for  Mr.  Dover  to  use  the  signature 
of  his  chief;  and  in  one  instance  where  this  was 
done  a  lady  wrote  back  saying  that  she  could 


Introduction  23 

read  the  character  of  the  Senator  from  his 
signature;  but  Mr.  Hanna  laughingly  insisted 
that  this  noble  character  must  belong,  not  to 
himself,  but  to  Mr.  Dover,  who  had  signed  the 
letter.  There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  Mr. 
Hanna's  appreciation  of  his  secretary.  There 
seemed  to  be  a  most  perfect  understanding 
between  the  two  men. 

Those  who  were  with  him  in  the  campaign 
of  1896  will  never  forget  the  tireless  vigor,  the 
alertness,  the  swift  decision  of  the  great 
political  captain.  A  conference  with  Senator 
Hanna  always  meant  business.  He  had  the 
art  of  bringing  all  the  vital  points  into  focus 
in  a  short  time.  He  seemed  to  sweep  the 
whole  battle-field  at  a  glance,  and  never  ap 
peared  to  overlook  the  smallest  detail.  The 
same  man  who  went  among  his  employees  with 
"  Hello,  Pete,"  "  Hello,  Jack.  How's  the  fam 
ily?  "  and  with  his  joke  and  laugh  brought  out 
the  best  that  was  in  them,  inspired  the  same 
personal  and  unflinching  loyalty  in  his  lieu 
tenants.  No  hour  too  late,  no  day  too  hot, 
no  time  too  valuable  to  find  the  Senator  pre- 


24  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

pared  for  the  duty  before  him.  He  often 
quoted  to  me  the  words  of  St.  Paul:  "  This  one 
thing  I  do"  which  seemed  to  have  especially 
directed  him,  for  he  was  preeminently  a  doer. 


While  occupying  the  historic  Cameron  House 
on  Lafayette  Square  in  Washington,  the  former 
home  of  Secretary  Seward,  there  was  a  "  con 
tinuous  performance,"  to  quote  from  the 
vaudeville,  in  the  early  days  of  the  McKinley 
administration,  that  was  decidedly  picturesque. 
The  Senator  would  come  down  from  break 
fast  to  find  an  assemblage  awaiting  him.  Puff 
ing  his  black  cigar  and  switching  the  little 
cane  he  always  carried,  he  recognized  every 
man  in  the  anteroom  and  had  a  cordial  word 
for  each  friend  seated  around  on  the  old- 
fashioned  chairs  with  their  covering  of  flowered 
brocade.  The  same  impartiality  was  in  his 
manner  whether  he  spoke  to  the  man  of  mil 
lions  or  the  workingman. 

At  eleven  o'clock  he  was  always  promptly 
in  the  committee-room,  usually  reaching  the 
Capitol  by  means  of  the  street  cars.  He  seemed 
never  to  lose  a  minute,  but  spent  all  his  time 


Introduction  25 

in  holding  conferences  or  grappling  single- 
handed  with  some  problem.  On  returning 
from  the  Senate  in  the  afternoon  he  would 
square  around  to  his  desk,  and  with  his  own 
hand  write  such  letters  as  he  felt  could  not 
be  dictated.  Among  my  treasures  I  cherish 
several  of  these  letters  as  priceless  possessions. 
He  continued  to  work  until  dusk;  interruptions 
never  seemed  to  trouble  him,  as  he  could  at 
once  pick  up  the  thread  of  his  thoughts  again. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  in  all  these  years  of 
public  life  he  never  kept  a  scrapbook,  and  no 
public  man  could  be  more  indifferent  than  he 
was  to  adulation  in  print.  Once  he  was  read 
ing  an  anecdote  which  had  been  published 
about  him,  in  which  he  was  represented  as 
quoting  from  the  classics. 

11  Now,  what  do  you  think  of  that?  "  he 
turned  to  me  and  asked.  "  Classics!  I  never 
knew  anything  about  classics,  and  that  fellow 
must  have  a  mighty  good  imagination."  A 
few  minutes  later  his  old  teacher  came  in, 
Professor  White,  a  venerable  gentleman  of 
about  four-score  years.  There  was  a  hearty 
hand  grasp,  and  the  old  gentleman  said : 


26  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

"  The  same  irrepressible  Mark!  Why,  Mark, 
you  were  the  most  classical  scholar  I  had  in 
the  old  schoolhouse,  and  I  always  felt  you 
had  a  classical  genius  for  doing  things."  They 
talked  over  old  days  until  I  could  almost  see 
the  old  place  and  the  girls  and  boys,  and  the 
refrain  of  time -honored  songs  rang  in  my  ears. 


Once  during  the  campaign  of  1896,  when 
McKinley  was  speaking  day  after  day  to  the 
throngs  who  made  pilgrimages  to  Canton  —  and 
days  had  passed  since  he  had  seen  the  captain 
of  his  forces  —  he  decided  to  call  him  up  on 
the  telephone.  His  first  inquiry  was: 

"  Is  that  you,  Mark?  " 

"  Yes,  Mr.  President-to-be,"  was  the  an 
swer  in  a  confident  voice. 

"  Well,  Mark,  am  I  doing  all  right?"  came 
the  query. 

"  Doing  all  right!  "  came  the  exclamation. 
"  Why,  Major,  you  have  set  the  pace  that  will 
lead  us  to  the  greatest  victory  the  party  has  ever 
had.  Doing  all  right?  Why,  I  find  that  I  will 
not  have  to  write  any  more  of  your  speeches 
that  the  newspapers  give  me  credit  for." 


Introduction  .  27 

"  How  do  you  like  your  pictures  in  the 
papers?  "  asked  McKinley. 

"  I  haven't  looked  for  my  picture,"  was 
the  answer;  "it  is  your  picture  that  we  want 
the  people  to  see." 

Almost  every  one  who  talked  with  the  Sena 
tor  for  a  half  hour  remembers  some  flash  of 
humor,  some  joke.  How  well  I  recall  finding 
him  in  his  office  last  summer  wearing  a  hand 
some  bouquet  in  his  buttonhole.  He  saw  us 
glancing  at  it,  and  smilingly  remarked  that 
these  were  the  laurels  he  had  won  the  night 
before,  and  went  on  to  relate  how  he  had  just 
made  an  address  to  college  girls  and  had  told 
them  that  he  always  preferred  women  for 
office  work.  "  And  I  meant  it,  too,"  he  added. 


There  was  a  pathetic  interest  in  one  of  the 
latest  callers  the  Senator  received  at  the  Arling 
ton,  —  an  old  German  who  came  to  bring  the 
greetings  and  love  of  his  German  commu 
nity;  and  the  good  man  in  his  broken  speech 
insisted  that  the  Senator  would  some  day 
dwell  in  the  White  House. 

"  Why,  Peter,"  answered  Mr.  Hanna,  "  that 


28  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

would  kill  me.  I  could  never  stand  the  cam 
paign,  much  less  the  duties  of  the  office." 

"  Veil,"  said  Peter,  "  Zenator,  you  might 
die  in  the  White  House." 

"  Well,  Peter,"  replied  the  Senator,  "  I  have 
no  wish  to  die  either  at  the  White  House  or 
elsewhere  just  yet.  I  have  too  much  to  do, 
and  I  would  rather  live  to  see  the  problem 
settled  between  labor  and  capital  than  be 
President  or  anything  else." 

*  Veil,"  was  the  answer,  "  if  you  won't  be 
President,  we  vant  you  to  lif  long  as  our  Zena 
tor.  We  luf  you  in  our  hearts." 


Death  has  called  another  friend,  but  some 
how,  even  in  the  depth  and  keenness  of  first 
grief,  in  the  sense  of  loss  of  that  warm  hand 
grasp,  in  the  obliterated  light  of  those  bright 
eyes,  we  see  some  hope  gleaming  and  take 
courage  to  place  upon  the  bier  a  chaplet  of 
immortelles  that  will  symbolize  the  undying 
memory  of  the  great  man,  the  wise  statesman, 
the  devoted  husband,  father  and  brother,  the 
true  friend,  the  brilliant  financier,  the  noble 
philanthropist,  the  business  man  of  unim- 


Introduction  29 

peachable  integrity,  and,  finally,  that  greatest 
tribute  that  can  be  paid  to  an  American,  the 
great  Citizen,  truly  a  citizen  in  the  perfect 
meaning  of  the  word,  Marcus  Alonzo  Hanna. 
JOE  MITCHELL  CHAPPLE. 


SOCIALISM   AND   THE   LABOR 
UNIONS 

I  HAVE  always  been  a  firm,  believer  in  the 
power  of  education,  whether  in  politics,  reli 
gion  or  business,  and  there  has  never  been  a 
people  more  susceptible  to  the  power  and  in 
fluence  of  education  than  the  American  people. 
Although  I  came  upon  the  political  field  rather 
late  in  life,  I  was  deeply  impressed  by  the  won 
derful  manner  in  which  the  people  of  this 
country  can  be  made  to  understand  a  direct, 
logical  proposition.  The  campaign  of  1896 
was  to  me  an  education,  and  brought  home 
the  belief  that  human  nature  is  pretty  much 
the  same  all  the  world  over;  that  the  funda 
mental  basis  of  right  success,  as  it  appears  to  me, 
is  fairness  and  justice ;  and  that  the  simpler  the 
proposition  can  be  made,  the  more  effective 
it  is  going  to  be  with  the  people  at  large. 

There  is  no  more  engrossing  question  than 
that  of  the  relation  between  labor  and  capital, 
which  seems  the  paramount  issue  to-day.  In 


Socialism  ana  the  Labor  Unions         31 

the  dawn  of  a  new  century,  looking  back  over 
our  history,  we  are  almost  bewildered  by  the 
great  and  wonderful  progress  of  the  country; 
and  no  matter  how  we  may  demur  against 
the  changes  that  are  thrusting  themselves 
upon  us,  we  must,  sooner  or  later,  grapple  with 
the  question  —  the  serious  problem  —  of  the 
adjustment  of  these  matters,  instead  of  try 
ing  to  turn  back  to  conditions  that  have  passed. 
Is  it  not  better  courageously  and  manfully  to 
face  the  proposition  of  the  future,  and  make 
an  united  effort  to  settle  it?  With  our  beloved 
country  possessed  of  greater  physical  advan 
tages  than  any  other  portion  of  the  globe, 
possessed  of  the  benefits  of  a  cosmopolitan 
population,  standing  foremost  in  the  ranks 
of  social  industry  and  advancement,  we  have 
a  heavy  responsibility  in  proportion  to  the 
blessings  we  enjoy.  The  tendency  has  been 
to  study  economics  purely  from  a  political 
standpoint,  and  my  experience  has  led  me  to 
believe  that  there  are  social  and  moral  phases 
of  the  relations  between  labor  and  capital  often 
lost  sight  of  in  the  eager  pursuit  of  gain.  My 
attention  was  called  to  these  things  after  the 


32  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

great  strike  in  the  coal  mines  of  Ohio,  in  which 
I  was  indirectly  interested,  and  it  was  then  that 
I  concluded  that  the  first  thing  to  be  done  was 
to  adjust  conditions  in  a  straightforward  man 
ner. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  there  was  a  popular 
prejudice  against  union  labor  as  an  imported 
article.  It  came  to  us  with  the  tide  of  im 
migration  from  the  Old  World,  where  it  was 
bred  among  conditions  which  do  not  and  can 
not  exist  in  America,  where  the  mighty  ad 
vantages  of  popular  education  are  free  to  all. 

It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  organized 
labor  is  an  older  institution  than  organized 
capital.  The  instinct  of  workingmen  to  band 
together  to  protect  themselves  is  no  more  to 
be  wondered  at  than  the  same  instinct  when 

M 

shown  on  the  part  of  capital.  *  Now,  my  plan 
is  to  have  organized  union  labor  Americanized 
in  the  best  sense  and  thoroughly  educated  to 
an  understanding  of  its  responsibilities,  and  in 
this  way  to  make  it  the  ally  of  the  capitalist, 
rather  than  a  foe  with  which  to  grapple  v 

It  is  often  asked  what  is  to  become  of  the 
non-organized  consumer  if  an  amicable  alliance 


Socialism  and  the  Labor  Unions          33 

is  made  between  labor  and  capital.  But  there 
is  no  such  middle  group  as  this  question  im 
plies.  There  is  no  other  group  than  that  of 
either  labor  or  capital  —  every  man  belongs 
either  to  the  one  or  the  other,  when  you  stop 
to  think  of  it;  for  that  matter,  he  is  likely  to 
belong  to  both. 

The  systematic  work  of  education  was  be 
gun  during  the  past  five  years  by  the  Civic 
Federation.  I  took  some  time  to  consider  the 
work  of  the  Federation,  and  am  firmly  con 
vinced  that  it  is  the  object  to  which  I  desire 
to  consecrate  the  remaining  years  of  my  life. 
I  fully  appreciate  that  it  is  a  long  struggle,  but 
the  progress  already  made  under  the  motto 
of  the  Civic  Federation  —  the  Golden  Rule  — 
has  surpassed  even  my  most  sanguine  expec 
tations;  and  I  am  sure  that  the  American 
people  will  sustain  a  policy,  based  upon  the 
highest  moral  and  social  impulse,  which  will 
eliminate  the  passionate  prejudices  that  now 
exist  between  capital  and  labor. 

We  oppose  the  sympathetic  strike,  and  this 
view  was  most  heroically  endorsed  by  the 
action  of  the  Mine  Workers'  Association  at 


34  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

Indianapolis  during  the  great  coal-mine  strike 
in  Pennsylvania ;  we  oppose  also  the  boy 
cott  ;  we  disapprove  of  the  restriction  of  pro 
duction  to  enhance  values  —  and  all  these  be 
liefs  are  being  gradually  adopted,  not  only  by 
union  labor,  but  by  cool-headed  and  far-seeing 
representatives  of  capital.  The  decayed  code 
of  principles  and  policy  that  has  no  true  har 
mony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age  —  which  is 
Business  —  is  passing  away.  It  is  so  easy  on 
the  floor  of  a  convention  for  one  or  two  inflam 
matory  speakers  to  set  on  fire  the  passions  of 
their  hearers,  whereas  the  mature  deliberations 
of  the  committee  will  hold  in  check  such 
feelings  as  might  otherwise  be  fanned  into  revo 
lution.  It  must  be  considered  that  hereto 
fore  big  capitalists,  or  the  employing  interests, 
have  had  the  advantage,  because  there  were 

•M 

more  workmen  than  there  was  work.  But 
conditions  have  changed,  and  for  every  work 
man,  on  an  average,  there  are  two  jobs  now 
in  the  heyday  of  our  prosperity;  and  it  is  ex^ 
pecting  too  much  of  human  nature  to  suppose 
that  workingmen  shall  not  desire  a  larger  share 
of  the  profits.  Has  not  this  motive  been  the 


Socialism  and  the  Labor  Unions         35 

stimulating  incentive  of  the  men  who  are  man 
aging  business  affairs?  We  cannot  justly  ex 
pect  more  from  the  man  who  has  not  been 
educated  on  the  side  of  capital  than  we  do 
from  those  who  are  thinkers  and  scholars,  and 
have  inherited  these  qualities  for  generations; 
and  no  one  who  is  acquainted  with  union  labor 
for  the  past  five  years  can  fail  to  recognize  the 
wonderful  advancement  that  has  been  made 
in  conservative,  cool-headed  and  thoroughly 
practical  management  of  these  matters  by  the 
workingmen  themselves.  This  is  coming  to 
be  more  and  more  realized  as  the  one  great 
purpose  in  union  labor,  and  when  the  men  in 
that  great  mine-workers'  convention  decided 
to  adopt  the  report  of  the  committee,  after 
it  had  struggled  through  an  all-night  session, 
and  then  manfully  stood  by  their  word  unani 
mously,  it  cast  a  ray  of  light  on  a  difficult 
problem,  and  also  enlisted  the  interest  and 
sympathy  of  the  American  people  in  the  wel 
fare  of  these  toilers  in  the  dark. 

Every  man  is  vulnerable  in  some  part,  and 
it  is  a  rare  thing  to  find  any  man  proof  against 
methods  of  kindness  and  justice.  Labor  or- 


36  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

ganizations  may  be  open  to  sharp  criticism 
at  times,  but  it  cannot  be  fairly  stated  that 
they  are  always  wrong.  If  every  man  is 
treated  as  a  man,  and  an  appeal  made  to  his 
heart,  as  well  as  to  his  reason,  it  will  establish 
a  bond  of  confidence  as  a  sure  foundation  to 
build  upon.  This  is  the  condition  that  is 
aimed  at  by  the  Civic  Federation  —  absolute 
confidence  on  both  sides.  Many  of  the  ills 
that  have  crept  into  labor  organizations  are 
importations  from  older  countries  and  will  not 
live  here  because  they  are  not  fitted  to  our 
conditions.  While  labor  unions  may  have 
been  a  curse  to  England,  I  believe  that  they 
will  prove  a  boon  to  our  own  country,  when 
a  proper  basis  of  confidence  and  respect  is  es 
tablished.  We  have,  perhaps,  been  too  busy 
and  too  engrossed  in  our  rapid  expansion  to 

look  upon  the  ethical  side  of  this  question,  and 

•# 

forgot  that  two  factors  contributed  to  the  pros 
perity  of  our  nation,  —  the  man  who  works 
with  his  hands  and  the  man  who  works  with 
his  head,  —  partners  in  toil  who  ought  to  be 
partners  also  in  the  profits  of  that  toil. 

All   strikes  do  not  originate   in  a   demand 


Socialism  and  the  Labor  Unions         37 

for  higher  wages.  There  are  other  grievances. 
With  the  great  army  of  employees  necessary  to 
our  industrial  institutions  it  is  quite  impossi 
ble  for  each  individual  to  receive  such  close 
consideration  at  the  hands  of  his  employer  as 
in  earlier  days  might  have  been  accorded,  and 
it  is  to  meet  this  condition  that  we  have  to 
adopt  the  propositions  of  union  labor,  and 
press  forward  the  campaign  of  education,  which 
means  reason  on  both  sides,  though  it  is  too 
much  to  expect  altogether  to  change  the  great 
current  of  selfishness  on  both  sides.  If  there_ 
are  enough  people  actuated  by  the  right  mo 
tives  it  can  be  done  in  a  great  measure,  and 
a  feeling  of  fellowship  established  that  will! 
obviate  to  a  large  extent  the  disastrous  effects  I 

of  the  strike.  A 

We  must  make  the  hundreds  of  thousands"! 
coming  from  a  lower  social  condition  in  the  \ 
Old    World   feel    that    prejudice    against    the    \ 
government    is    futile    and    unnecessary,    and 
that  they  have  a  large  share  of  the  responsi-     1 
bility  for  the  wise  ordering  of  business  con-     \ 
ditions.     All  this  takes  time.     Coming  to  us      I 

unlettered  and  untaught,  it  remains  for  us  to       1 

-^.^ 


38  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

show  what  we  can  do  for  the  next  generation, 
and  it  is  to  them  we  must  look  to  properly 
assimilate  and  carry  out  the  American  ideals 
of  trade  and  industry. 

It  is  truly  astonishing  to  consider  what 
trivial  disagreements  have  occasioned  some 
of  the  most  serious  strikes.  I  have  seen  two 
parties  stand  apart,  each  with  a  chip  on  his 
shoulder,  defying  his  opponent  to  knock  it  off, 
and  moved  by  emotions  and  considerations 
that  were  very  far  from  promoting  the  wel 
fare  of  either  party.  There  is  more  to  over 
come  in  the  way  of  feeling  on  the  part  of 
capital  than  on  the  part  of  labor.  Capital  has 
been  for  many  generations  entrenched  behind 
its  power  to  dictate  conditions,  whether  right 
or  wrong,  and  the  abrogation  of  this  power  is 
not  going  to  weaken,  in  the  least  degree,  the 
strength  ot  the  hitherto  dominant  party,  for 
no  better  investment  exists  for  a  manufactur 
ing  institution  or  a  corporation  than  the  hearty 
cooperation  and  good  feeling  of  the  employees. 
If  we  go  upon  this  hypothesis,  it  seems  to  me 
quite  possible  that  all  differences  may  be 
obviated  in  the  future  by  the  proverbial  ounce 


Socialism  and  the  Labor  Unions         39 

of  prevention  which  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure. 
As  in  our  national  legislation,  and  in  successful 
business  corporations,  a  large  part  of  the  best 
initiative  comes  from  the  careful  deliberations 
of  the  committee- room  and  the  conference,  so 
may  this  national  and  almost  universal  ques 
tion  be  met  and  successfully  settled  in  the  same 
way. 

The  menace  of  today,  as  I  view  it,  is  the 
spread  of  a  spirit  of  socialism,  one  of  those 
things  which  is  only  half  understood  and  is 
more  or  less  used  to  inflame  the  popular  mind 
against  all  individual  initiative  and  personal 
energy,  which  has  been  the  very  essence  of 
American  progress.  While  this  spirit  of  social 
ism  has  caused  apprehension  in  some  quarters, 
it  has  been  joyfully  received  by  a  certain  class 
of  people  who  do  not  desire  to  acquire  com 
petence  in  the  ordinary  and  honest  manner, 
and  gladly  seize  any  excuse  for  agitating  the 
public  mind,  on  the  chance  of  putting  money 
in  their  own  pockets, —  the  men  who  are  de 
scribed  as  having  "  no  stake  in  the  country." 

My  own  impression  is  confirmed  by  infor 
mation  from  laboring  men,  that  socialism,  in  the 


40  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

JEuropean  sense  of  the  word,  will  never  find  a 
jfirrn  footing  in  America.     There  is  a  spirit  of 
/cooperation  or  community  of  interests  which 
I  some    people    may   confound   with     socialism 
i  that  is  making  headway  with  us;  but  when 
'•  any  one  attempts,  for    political    or    financial 
;  reasons,   to   advocate   the   whole   program   of 
European  socialism,  he  will  find  little  prospect 
of    the   seed    taking    root   in  American    soil. 
This,  I  think,  was  demonstrated  very  conclu 
sively   in   the   Ohio   campaign,    where   higher 
socialism  was  brought  forth  as  an  issue.     When 
the  people  understand  this  subject  in  its  full 
est  sense  and  some  of  the  mysteries  and  the 
fascinating  glamor  connected  with  the  myste 
rious  that   now  shroud  the   subject  are  torn 
away,  and  it  is  seen  plainly,  it  will  be  found 
to  be  repellent  to  American  ideas  of  integrity 
and  honesty.     Its  objects  will  be  seen  to  be 
the  very  opposite  of  those  desired  both  by 
labor  and  capital,  since  it  gives  no  aid  toward 
the    building    up    and    development    of     the 
country,   nor  does    it    guarantee  each  man  a 
chance  to  make  a  home  for  himself.     Fairness 
and  justice  will  never  agree  to  the  confiscation 


Socialism  and  the  Labor  Unions         41 

of  the  products  of  one  man's  toil  in  order  to  \ 
insure  comfort  to  the  idle  and  worthless.  The 
old  law  of  compensation  is  operative  now  as 
ever.  No  "  ism  "  is  wanted  by  the  American 
people  that  will  take  from  any  citizen  the  just 
and  equitable  reward  of  his  labor.  There  is 
always  a  likelihood  of  movements  of  this  kind 
fascinating  people  who  have  met  with  a  degree 
of  failure  in  their  own  efforts ;  but  it  is  a  short 
sighted  policy  to  destroy  the  fabric  of  national 
union  in  order  to  promulgate  a  doctrine  the 
very  essence  of  which  is  selfishness.  I  believe 
a  single  vigorous  campaign  of  agitation  would 
quickly  show  what  support  these  doctrines 
may  expect  from  the  American  people,  as  has 
been  proven  over  and  over  along  these  lines,, 
As  a  general  rule,  the  American  people  are 
pretty  level-headed. 

Now,  I  do  not  mean  that  those  who  have 
taken  up  socialism  should  be  roundly  scored 
and  abused,  for  a  great  many  of  these  are 
honest  and  sincere  in  their  belief,  which  belief 
arises  from  not  really  understanding  the  mat 
ter,  having  been  misled  by  misrepresentation. 
It  is  usually  said  that  there  are  only  two  sides 


42  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

to  a  question,  but  in  this  matter  there  are  two 
sides  and  two  ends,  and  by  the  time  our  social 
ist  has  surveyed  the  two  sides  and  the  big  end 
and  the  little  one,  he  will  not  find  that  social 
ism  is  going  to  benefit  him  much  in  America. 

It  seems  to  me  more  reasonable  to  take  up 
the  difficulties  of  labor  and  capital  case  by 
case,  and  situation  after  situation,  as  they  come 
up,  and  try  to  adjust  them  in  a  manner  at 
once  permanent  and  peaceful;  in  this  way  the 
inherent  rights  of  the  individual  will  be  better 
served  than  by  an  attempt  to  demolish  a  sys 
tem  of  government  which  is  so  well  suited  to 
the  needs  of  the  American  people  and  which 
has  so  well  withstood  the  attacks  of  the  dreamer 
and  the  agitator  in  the  years  that  are  past. 

If  there  is*  any  one  superb  virtue  that  the 
American  people  possess  it  is  courage  in  grap 
pling  with  the  issues  of  the  future,  and  I  do 
not  think  there  will  ever  be  a  faltering  note 
in  this  respect,  no  matter  what  the  obstacle, 
no  matter  what  the  difficulty  may  be.  But 
we  must  get  right  down  to  the  belief  that  life 
is  a  matter  of  mutual  interest  between  labor 
and  capital;  we  cannot  separate  the  two  great 


Socialism  and  the  Labor  Unions          43 

factors  which  underlie  our  development;  it  is 
not  possible  for  one  to  prosper  permanently 
unless  the  other  shares  in  that  prosperity. 
There  must  be  a  common  ground  where  all 
can  meet  with  the  honest  determination  to  do 
what  is  right,  meeting  bravely  the  conditions 
as  they  change  and  seizing  the  opportunity  as 
it  offers  for  the  betterment  of  all  the  people. 
The  movement  already  inaugurated  among 
large  employers  looking  toward  the  utmost 
comfort  and  convenience  of  their  employees  is 
not  carried  out  altogether  from  philanthropic 
motives  but  is  a  matter  of  business  also,  and 
it  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  signs  of  the  times. 
This  is  essentially  a  great  economic  age  - 
an  age  when  energy,  materials  and  purposes 
are  all  being  utilized  for  the  best.  When  a 
man  loses  his  day's  work,  and  is  compelled  to 
spend  that  time  in  absolute  idleness,  the  whole 
community  suffers  a  loss  as  well  as  he,  and  it 
is  something  that  is  lost  forever  to  the  com 
monwealth;  this  would  be  found  entirely 
unnecessary  were  the  honest  motives  of  both 
sides  given  proper  consideration.  And  we 
feel  convinced  that  we  have  a  very  great  duty 


44  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

to  perform  in  resisting  the  onslaught  of  the 
socialistic  tendency  which  helps  to  bring  this 
state  of  affairs  into  being.  Both  capital  and 
labor  must  yield  in  time  to  the  great  law  of 
fair  dealing,  man  to  man.  In  proportion  to 
a  man's  ambitions  and  his  ability  to  earn  for 
himself  a  betterment  of  his  condition,  there 
will  be  a  striving  on  his  part  to  attain  his  ideals, 
and  this,  in  itself,  is  the  germ  of  progress;  and 
just  as  far  as  that  encroaches  on  others  who 
are  working  for  the  same  object  there  will  be 
a  natural  resistance.  But  there  are  few  citi 
zens  in  this  country  who  would  condone  any 
interference  with  the  personal  rights  of  a  neigh 
bor.  There  always  will  be  a  neutral  ground 
where  conflicting  interests  can  meet  and  con 
fer  and  adjust  themselves  —  a  sort  of  Hague 
tribunal,  if  you  please,  in  the  everyday  affairs 
of  life. 

The  American  labor  unions  are  becoming 
more  and  more  conservative  and  careful  in 
their  management,  and  are  not  likely  to  be 
led  away  from  the  straight  road  by  hot-headed 
members. 

Business  men,  too,  have  found  that  righting 


Socialism  and  the  Labor  Unions         45 

does  not  pay  in  trade.  There  is  an  old  saying 
that  the  best  lawyer  is  he  who  keeps  his 
client  out  of  lawsuits,  and  the  best  leader  is 
he  who  can  avoid  difficulties;  but  the  greater 
experience  and  intelligence  which  necessarily 
exist  among  employers,  owing  to  the  fact  of 
their  longer  training  in  the  forum  of  business, 
places  upon  them  an  important  responsibility. 
I  wish  I  could  impress  upon  every  American 
the  individual  responsibility  that  rests  upon 
each  one  of  us.  Every  year  of  experience, 
every  dollar  of  accumulated  capital,  every 
talent  we  possess  should  be  regarded  as  a 
sacred  charge  for  the  good  of  the  nation,  to 
help  in  uniting  the  interests  of  rich  and  poor, 
learned  and  unlearned. 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY  AS  I 
KNEW  HIM 

I.  His  MASTERLY  CAMPAIGNS 

IT  is  something  over  thirty  years  ago  that 
I  first  knew  William  McKinley,  a  young  prac 
ticing  attorney  at  Canton,  Ohio.  Strange  as 
it  may  seem,  I  cannot  recall  the  exact  time  or 
place  when  I  first  met  him.  I  know  that  it 
was  early  in  the  seventies,  and  I  have  a  recol 
lection  of  being  strangely  attracted  to  the  quiet 
and  methodical  lawyer.  Our  acquaintance 
was  somewhat  closer  after  his  election  to  Con 
gress  and  in  some  way  I  always  felt  a  personal 
interest  in  his  contests  from  time  to  time.  Our 
acquaintanceship  was  a  simple  growth  of 
friendship.  His  splendid  work  in  the  cause 
of  Protection  as  a  congressman  further  at 
tracted  me.  This  was  even  before  he  had 
reached  prominence  in  Congress  as  a  member 
of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee.  I  never 
thought  of  the  possibility  at  that  time  of  his 
becoming  a  candidate  for  the  presidency,  and 

46 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      47 

was  not  especially  active  in  politics  except  in 
so  far  as  exercising  my  influence  in  the  inter 
ests  of  the  Republican  party.  Our  first  asso 
ciation  politically  was  in  1880,  when  Ohio  took 
a  prominent  part  in  the  campaign  in  which 
Garfield  was  elected.  In  1884  William  Mc 
Kinley  was  elected  delegate  at  large  to  the 
Republican  National  Convention,  and  I  was 
also  a  delegate.  McKinley  was  an  enthusi 
astic  supporter  of  Elaine,  and  I  was  for  John 
Sherman,  and  we  contested  the  delegation 
vigorously  for  our  men.  In  the  national  con 
vention  of  1888  we  were  present  again  as  dele 
gates,  but  this  time  we  were  both  pledged  for 
John  Sherman,  and  it  was  at  this  time  McKin 
ley  made  the  famous  speech  which  I  felt  des 
tined  him  as  a  marked  man  for  President. 

Even  before  this  our  friendship  had  seemed 
to  grow  into  something  more  than  that  of 
ordinary  personal  or  political  associates.  Some 
how  I  felt  for  him  an  affection  that  cannot  be 
explained,  and  it  was  at  this  convention  that 
I  gained  an  insight  into  the  unselfish,  unfalter 
ing  loyalty  which  William  McKinley  gave  to 
every  cause  he  espoused. 


48  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

During  that  convention  we  occupied  the 
same  rooms,  and  were  in  conference  day  and 
night  as  to  the  best  ways  and  means  to  bring 
about  the  nomination  of  John  Sherman,  Ohio's 
Grand  Old  Man. 

I  sat  by  McKinley's  side  when  he  eloquently 
demanded  that  his  name  be  withdrawn  for  his 
own  honor's  sake,  and  history  records  that  he 
did  withdraw  it. 

It  was  in  the  convention  of  1888  that  Wil 
liam  McKinley  developed  into  a  positive  na 
tional  force.  Elaine  and  Sherman  had  been 
in  their  full  vigor  in  1884,  and  I  had  the  clear 
impression  from  that  time  that  every  turn  of 
the  wheel  brought  McKinley  into  a  fuller 
measure  of  merited  prominence.  It  was 
after  a  very  hot  day  during  the  Chicago 
convention  that  General  Ben  Butterworth, 
Major  McKinley  and  myself  sat  at  a  table 
talking  over  the  events  of  the  day.  The  dele 
gates  had  brought  forward  his  name.  McKin 
ley  took  a  telegraph  blank  from  the  table, 
and  during  the  moments  of  silence  wrote 
down  some  memorable  words.  He  passed  it 
to  me  with  the  remark,  "  If  this  thing  is 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      49 

repeated   tomorrow,  that  is  what  I  am  going 
to  say": 

"I  am  here  as  one  of  the  chosen  representatives 
from  my  state.  I  am  here  by  resolution  of  the 
Republican  convention,  cast  without  one  dissenting 
vote,  commanding  me  to  vote  for  John  Sherman 
and  use  every  worthy  endeavor  for  his  nomination. 
I  accepted  the  trust  because  my  heart  and  judgment 
were  in  accord  with  the  letter,  spirit  and  purpose  of 
that  resolution.  It  has  pleased  certain  delegates  to 
cast  their  vote  for  me.  I  am  not  insensible  to  the 
honor  they  would  do  me,  but  in  the  presence  of  the 
duty  resting  upon  me  I  cannot  remain  silent  with 
honor.  I  cannot  consistently  with  the  credit  of  the 
state  whose  credentials  I  bear  and  which  has  trusted 
me,  —  I  cannot  with  honorable  fidelity  to  John  Sher 
man,  who  has  trusted  me  in  his  cause  and  with  his 
confidence,  —  I  cannot  consistently  with  my  own  views 
of  my  persona]  integrity,  consent  or  seem  to  consent 
to  permit  my  name  to  be  used  as  a  candidate  before 
this  convention.  I  would  not  respect  myself  if  I 
could  find  it  in  my  heart  to  do,  to  say  or  to  per 
mit  to  be  done  that  which  could  ever  be  ground  for 
any  one  to  suspect  that  I  wavered  in  my  loyalty  to 
Ohio,  or  my  devotion  to  the  chief  of  her  choice  and 
the  chief  of  mine.  I  do  request,  I  demand,  that 
no  delegate  who  would  not  cast  reflections  on  me 
should  cast  a  ballot  for  me." 


50  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

His  name  was  brought  forward  the  follow 
ing  day.  Pleading  loyal  allegiance  to  John 
Sherman,  he  uttered  with  all  the  deep  sincerity 
of  the  man  a  declaration  that  will  live  in  all 
political  history.  It  revealed  the  true  loyalty 
and  unselfishness  of  the  man,  and  won  for  him 
friends  and  supporters  who  afterward  joined 
their  hands  in  making  him  President. 

He  was  always,  from  his  earliest  political 
career,  such  a  willing  worker  that  when  I  re 
monstrated  with  him  he  would  laughingly 
remark,  "  A  good  soldier  must  always  be  ready 
for  duty." 

His  utterances  in  that  convention  are  the 
best  index  to  his  character  that  I  know  of,  and 
displayed  in  him  those  rare  qualities  of  man 
hood  which  convinced  me  that  he  was  destined 
to  become  a  great  power  in  national  politics. 
And  here,  for  the  first  time,  it  occurred  to  me 
that  he  was  a  logical  candidate  for  the  presi 
dency  in  years  to  come.  I  was  with  him  in 
1892  at  Minneapolis,  and,  as  it  will  be  re 
membered,  the  demand  from  the  people  for 
McKinley  as  a  candidate  was  even  more  out 
spoken  and  seemingly  irresistible  than  at  the 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      51 

previous  convention.  The  situation  was  such 
that  it  would  have  been  an  easy  matter  for 
him  to  have  spoken  and  won  the  entire  sup 
port  of  the  Elaine  men,  to  say  nothing  of  his 
many  admirers  among  those  pledged  for  Har 
rison.  At  this  time  it  was  evident  to  even  the 
most  casual  observer  that  sooner  or  later  he 
would  be  placed  in  that  high  position  for  which 
his  talent  and  particular  abilities  qualified  him. 
The  demonstration  at  Minneapolis  con 
vinced  me  that,  although  it  was  an  impolitic 
thing  for  his  interests  to  nominate  him  there, 
in  the  next  national  convention  the  popular 
demand  for  his  candidacy  would  override  all 
opposition. 


The  condition  of  the  country  that  followed 
the  election  of  1892  so  clearly  defined  him  as 
the  one  man  of  all  others  in  public  life  to  lead 
the  Republican  party  that  I  felt  that  his  nomi 
nation  was  assured. 

As  early  as  1894  I  began  to  feel  the  pulse  of 
the  people,  that  is,  the  rank  and  file,  busi 
ness  men,  laboring  men,  traveling  men  and 
manufacturers,  to  learn  how  far  the  sentiment 


52  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

for  McKinley  had  taken  hold.  It  required 
only  the  opportunity  for  the  people  of  the 
Northern  states  to  express  their  sentiment  on 
the  subject,  and  the  result  at  St.  Louis  justi 
fied  the  expectations  of  his  friends  and  ad 
mirers,  and  gave  proof  of  the  correctness  of 
their  judgment  in  believing  him  to  be  the  one 
man  who  fitted  the  situation  and  insured  the 
the  success  of  the  party. 

In  the  management  of  the  campaign  which 
followed  I  was  made  to  appreciate  how  much 
McKinley 's  strong  and  noble  personality  con 
tributed  to  its  success.  How  eminently  serv 
iceable  was  the  part  which  he  took  in  meeting 
on  his  porch  at  Canton  the  people  who  came 
in  throngs  and  thousands  to  greet  him,  no  one 
can  estimate.  He  not  only  impressed  them  by 
the  earnestness  and  sincerity  of  his  speeches 
and  the  wisdom  of  his  words,  but  there  was 
always  present  the  genial  personality  of  the 
man  that  quickly  won  admiration  and  respect 
from  everyone  with  whom  he  came  into  con 
tact.  No  committee  organization  could  have 
furnished  this  great  attribute  of  personal 
strength  which  was  so  necessary  to  the  sue- 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      53 

cess  of  the  ticket,  and  none  other  than  such  a 
personality  could  have  inspired  individuals  in 
all  parts  of  the  country  to  do  their  utmost  in 
every  way  to  secure  his  election.  His  entire 
and  complete  confidence  in  those  who  were 
conducting  the  affairs  of  the  campaign  stimu 
lated  them  to  their  utmost  efforts,  inspiring 
in  them  a  desire  to  show  their  appreciation  of 
this  confidence  and  trust  in  them.  I  don't 
believe  that  k  any  other  political  campaign  in 
the  history  of  the  Republican  party  ever 
demonstrated  such  a  growing  interest  and  en 
thusiasm,  and  above  all,  confidence,  in  the  per 
sonality  of  the  candidate,  which  continued  to 
grow  and  increase  from  the  opening  of  the 
campaign  to  the  great  climax  of  Flag  Day, 
which  marked  an  epoch  in  the  campaign  of 
1896. 

It  must  also  be  remembered  that  his  sup 
porters  were  not  confined  to  those  who  had 
hitherto  always  been  identified  with  the  Re 
publican  party.  The  others  who  joined  us  in 
the  contest  for  the  principles  on  which  Mc 
Kinley  stood  were  equally  enthusiastic  in  their 
admiration  of  the  man. 


54  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

The  country  knows  today  how  well  he  filled 
the  expectations  of  all  those  who  supported 
him.  In  the  earlier  days  of  1896,  con 
fronted  as  we  were  by  unexpected  develop 
ments  in  the  silver  question,  —  four  years  of 
depression  and  an  industrial  paralysis  which 
resulted  disastrously  to  all  classes,  when  those 
who  were  suffering  were  looking  for  relief,  and 
the  proposition  was  made  for  free  and  un 
limited  coinage  of  silver,  on  the  plea  that  the 
expansion  of  the  circulating  medium  would 
make  better  times  —  under  such  conditions  it 
is  not  strange  that  we  found  in  the  Republi 
can  ranks  an  uncertainty  as  to  what  course 
to  pursue.  It  became  evident  that  the  work 
before  us  was  a  campaign  of  education  of  great 
magnitude,  the  results  of  which  must  neces 
sarily  be  slow  to  accomplish. 

If  there  were  any  dark  days  in  the  cam 
paign,  it  was  during  the  earlier  weeks  of  the 
work.  It  was  at  that  time  that  William  Mc- 
Kinley  in  his  conversation  with  us  showed  his 
buoyant  spirit  and  his  strong  faith  in  the  com 
mon  people  of  the  country,  believing  that  they 
would  meet  and  solve  the  question  right  and 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      55 

•endorse  the  principles  which  were  to  bring 
relief  to  all.  He  insisted  that  all  that  was 
necessary  was  to  make  them  understand  the 
cause  and  effect  of  the  principles  advocated 
by  both  parties. 

It  was  during  the  middle  stage  of  the  cam 
paign  that  the  results  coming  in  indicated  that 
the  people  were  reading,  thinking  and  deter 
mining  conclusions  for  themselves.  They 
were  beginning  to  see  where  their  interests 
were  at  stake.  All  this  was  the  confirmation 
of  William  McKinley's  faith  in  the  people, 
and  it  was  the  joy  of  his  heart  to  feel  that  he 
could  read  aright  the  signs  of  the  times  and 
that  the  end  would  justify  his  faith  in  the  final 
judgment  of  the  people. 

His  victory  was  greater  in  its  proof  of  the 
faith  of  the  people  in  him  than  merely  in  the 
choice  of  him  as  President  of  the  United 
States.  This  was  the  subject  that  in  after 
years  we  often  talked  about,  and  it  was  a 
beautiful  thing  to  me  to  see  how  much  he 
realized  and  appreciated  the  confidence  which 
had  come  to  him  as  a  result  of  his  abiding 
faith  in  the  people.  If  there  had  been  no  other 


56  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

motive,  this  was  the  great  incentive  for  him 
to  use  all  the  power  and  talent  with  which  he 
had  been  endowed  to  give  the  people  in  return 
for  their  confidence  his  best  life-work.  And 
he  consecrated  the  best  efforts  of  his  life  to 
fulfill  their  expectations. 


My  associations  with  him  during  the  years 
of  executive  life  gave  me  further  opportunity 
to  appreciate  as  I  never  had  before  the  great 
reserve  force  which  he  possessed.  He  seems 
to  have  met  every  emergency  and  the  un 
usual  problems  and  annoying  complications 
of  the  times  in  a  masterful  way.  These  con 
ditions  furnished  the  opportunity  for  him  to 
demonstrate  his  enormous  talent  and  ability 
successfully  to  solve  every  problem,  rising  to 
the  full  measure  of  every  situation  and  over 
coming  all  obstacles. 

And  then  the  summing  of  it  all  in  that  beau 
tiful  death,  which  was  so  characteristic  of  his 
career,  is  one  almost  unequaled  in  history.  He 
had  won  the  admiration,  love  and  respect  of  all 
classes  of  his  own  people,  and  of  all  nations. 

There  was  one  phrase  used  when  we  first 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      57 

opened  the  campaign  for  him  that  seemed 
to  fit  the  situation,  and  that  was  the  claim 
that  he  was  the  "  logical  candidate."  In 
the  first  place,  he  marked  out  for  himself  a 
distinctive  political  career.  He  had  spent 
every  energy  and  used  every  effort  in  all  his 
public  service  for  the  highest  and  best  inter 
ests  of  his  people,  inspired  always  by  patriotic 
impulse,  with  a  sincerity  never  questioned. 
His  election  to  an  office  always  meant  more 
than  the  mere  gratification  of  a  selfish  political 
ambition.  He  said  to  me  once  —  and  I  cite 
it  here  to  show  that  his  ambitions  never  sprang 
from  selfish  motives  —  in  speaking  about  some 
of  the  methods  adopted  in  contests  for  the 
nomination,  "  There  are  some  things,  Mark, 
I  would  not  do  and  cannot  do,  even  to  become 
President  of  the  United  States,"  and  it  was 
my  impression  at  that  time  that  he  himself 
had  little  thought  or  idea  that  he  would  ever 
be  nominated  for  President. 


A  great  deal  has  been  said  about  his  pro 
verbial  good  nature.  He  had  that,  and  in 
addition  to  that  an  unequaled  equipoise  in 


58  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

every  emergency.  In  all  my  career,  in  busi 
ness  and  in  politics,  I  have  never  known  a 
man  so  self-contained.  He  always  acted  de 
liberately,  and  his  judgments  were  always 
weighed  carefully,  although  there  were  times 
when  his  heart  impulses  would  respond  quickly, 
without  apparently  the  slightest  delay.  In  all 
those  thirty  years  of  close  relations,  I  never 
saw  him  in  a  passion,  never  heard  him  utter 
one  word  of  what  I  would  call  resentment, 
tinged  with  bitterness,  toward  a  living  person. 
This  was  again  reflected  in  the  story  of  the 
assassination  told  by  Mr.  Milburn,  who  said 
that  he  could  never  forget  the  picture  in  the 
expression  of  his  countenance  as  he  glanced 
toward  the  dastard  assassin.  In  his  eyes  were 
the  words  as  plain  as  language  could  express 
it,  "  Why  should  you  do  this?  "  And  then 
when  the  assassin  was  hurled  to  the  ground, 
when  the  fury  and  indignation  of  the  people 
had  begun  to  assert  itself,  he  said  with  almost 
saintly  compassion,  "  Don't  let  them  hurt 
him." 

I  know  of  nothing  in  all  history  that  can 
compare  with  the  splendid  climax  and  ending 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      59 

of  this  noble  life.  One  of  the  sweetest  conso 
lations  that  come  to  me  is  the  memory  that  on 
Tuesday,  preceding  his  death,  he  asked  to  see 
a  newspaper,  and  when  he  was  told,  "  Not 
today,"  he  asked,  "  Is  Mark  here?  " 

1  Yes,  Mr.  President,"  was  the  response, 
and  in  that  one  sweet  last  remembrance  was  a 
rich  reward  for  the  years  of  devotion  which  it 
had  always  been  my  pleasure  to  give  him. 


It  is  difficult  for  me  to  express  the  extent 
of  the  love  and  respect  which  I,  in  common 
with  many  others,  felt  for  him  personally.  The 
feeling  was  the  outgrowth  of  an  appreciation 
of  his  noble,  self-sacrificing  nature.  My  affec 
tion  for  him  and  faith  and  confidence  in  him 
always  seemed  to  be  reciprocated,  to  the  ex 
tent  that  there  was  never  an  unpleasant  word 
passed  between  us,  and  the  history  of  his  ad 
ministration,  his  cabinet  and  his  associations 
with  public  men,  so  entirely  free  from  intrigue 
or  base  selfishness,  I  think  will  be  a  splendid 
example  to  the  youth  of  the  coming  genera 
tions.  There  was  nothing  in  the  expression  of 
his  face  or  manner  denoting  exultation  over 


60  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

his  victory  when  it  was  announced  that  he  was 
elected  President.  He  seemed  to  realize  fully 
the  sacred  responsibilities  placed  upon  him, 
and  the  quiet  dignity  and  self-possession  which 
marked  the  man  then  and  in  days  after  were 
just  what  his  personal  friends  expected  of  him. 
The  first  day  I  greeted  him  after  he  was  in 
augurated  at  the  White  House,  in  the  course 
of  our  conversation,  I  inadvertently  called 
him  "  Major  "  and  "  Governor,"  and  when  I 
stopped  to  correct  myself,  he  would  say,  "  Each 
one  is  fitting;  I'm  not  particular  which." 

We  were  both  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  but 
opposites  in  disposition.  He  was  of  a  more 
direct  descent  than  I,  but  it  is  thought  from 
our  dispositions  that  he  had  the  Scotch  and  I 
had  the  Irish  of  the  combination. 

II.   GLIMPSES  OF  His  PERSONALITY 

The  one  absorbing  purpose  in  William 
McKinley's  political  career  was  to  keep 
closely  in  touch  with  the  people,  so  that 
he  might  promote  their  material  and  moral 
welfare. 

He    seemed    to    study    and    watch    current 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      61 

events  as  a  barometer,  gauging  the  growth  of 
public  sentiment  keenly,  and  particularly 
watching  the  development  of  the  new  indus 
tries  and  new  resources.  He  accentuated  the 
American  idea  in  everything  he  undertook. 

There  was  something  sublime  in  the  way  in 
which  he  viewed  his  defeat  in  the  tariff  reform 
cyclone  of  1892.  I  often  discussed  the  situ 
ation  with  him  —  and  then  we  talked  of  the 
"  McKinley  Bill."  I  remember  how  his  eyes 
sparkled  when  it  was  suggested  that  his  bill 
was  the  sole  cause  of  Republican  defeat,  and 
how  he  delivered  a  statement  to  me  with  an 
air  of  prophecy: 

"  That  may  have  been  so,  but  the  bill  was 
passed  so  short  a  time  prior  to  election  that  it 
was  easy  for  our  opponents  to  make  charges 
and  there  was  no  time  for  us  to  combat  them; 
but  wait  and  see,  Mark  —  wait  and  see.  The 
principles  and  policies  of  that  bill  will  yet  win 
a  greater  victory  for  our  party  than  we  have 
ever  had  before.  This  misunderstanding  will 
yet  contribute  to  overwhelming  Republican 
success." 

The  general  conditions  were  such,  however, 


62  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

that  the  party's  reverse  could  not  be  attributed 
entirely  to  the  McKinley  Bill.  There  were 
other  factors  in  the  landslide  of  '92. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  campaign  of  1896 
the  charge  was  made  that  McKinley  voted  for 
the  free  coinage  of  silver.  And  with  his  usual 
candor  he  admitted  that,  in  the  earlier  stages 
of  the  agitation  of  the  money  question,  it  was 
to  him  then  a  proposition  he  had  not  fully  in 
vestigated;  he  did  not  pretend  to  be  a  doctor 
of  finance  and  had  followed  the  popular  trend 
of  that  time.  After  fuller  discussion  and 
practical  demonstration  of  facts;  after  ob 
serving  the  changing  conditions  of  the  country, 
and  weighing  the  question  in  its  various  rela 
tions  to  the  fundamental  laws  of  practical 
finance  and  the  true  policy  best  for  the  coun 
try,  his  conclusions  were  voiced  in  the  St. 
Louis  platform  of  1896. 

The  last  discussion  that  I  had  with  him  upon 
the  money  question  before  he  was  nominated 
was  a  few  days  before  I  left  for  St.  Louis,  at 
my  office  in  Cleveland. 

He  turned  to  my  desk,  sat  down  and  wrote 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      63 

in  lead  pencil  an  article  which  he  handed  me 
when  finished,  saying: 

"  There,  Mark,  are  my  ideas  of  what  our 
platform  should  be  on  the  money  question." 

I  carried  the  paper  in  my  pocket  to  St.  Louis 
some  days  before  the  convention,  and  that 
declaration  of  William  McKinley  contained  in 
substance  what  was  afterward  drafted  into 
the  plank  in  the  platform  on  that  question.  I 
mention  this  because  in  subsequent  discussion 
a  great  deal  has  been  said  about  the  construc 
tion  of  that  plank  in  the  St.  Louis  platform  on 
the  tariff  and  money  question. 

This  absolute  declaration  was  given  me  by 
Major  McKinley  as  embracing  his  ideas,  and 
while  the  language  may  have  been  changed 
somewhat,  the  meaning  of  the  article  he  wrote 
weeks  before  the  convention  was  absolutely 
followed  in  the  platform  of  1896. 

As  to  the  quality  of  his  courage,  I  never 
knew  a  man  more  fearless.  In  the  dark  days 
of  the  Ohio  gerrymander,  when,  as  author  of 
the  McKinley  Bill,  he  lost  his  seat  in  congress, 
he  was  cheerful  in  a  defeat  that  had  cut  a 
Democratic  majority  of  2 ,000  down  to  300.  He 


64  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

had  fought  an  uphill  fight,  and  although  de 
feated  was  elated  over  the  confidence  which 
his  home  people  expressed  in  the  principles 
which  he  represented.  The  defeat  had  no  de 
pressing  effect  on  his  mind  and  energies,  but 
spurred  him  to  greater  effort.  And  in  every 
serious  emergency  that  confronted  him  he 
was  prepared  for  the  event  —  always  calm 
and  courageous.  Even  amidst  the  onslaughts 
of  campaign  abuse  he  never  uttered  in  my 
presence  one  retaliatory  word,  but  always 
referred  to  the  enemy  as  "  our  opponents," 
while  I  must  confess  I  used  stronger  adjectives 
at  times. 


There  was  nothing  that  he  enjoyed  more 
than  a  social  time  with  friends  at  dinner.  He 
always  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  occasion 
and  contributed  his  full  share  of  merriment. 
And  once  aroused  he  showed  a  side  of  his  char 
acter  that  few  were  acquainted  with.  He  en 
joyed  jokes  to  the  full  measure,  and  was  a  pleas 
ant  tease.  When  he  once  had  a  joke  on  me  he 
rang  all  the  changes;  and  no  one  enjoyed  a 
joke  on  himself  more  thoroughly  than  he  did. 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      65 

In  1897,  when  I  was  a  tenderfoot,  recently 
arrived  in  Washington,  he  asked  me  to  give 
up  a  dinner  engagement  with  some  gentle 
men  to  fill  up  the  table  as  an  emergency  man 
at  a  dinner  to  be  given  at  the  White  House 
that  night.  I  declined,  saying  I  had  a  better 
thing  —  not  knowing  that  an  invitation  to 
the  White  House  was  equivalent  to  a  com 
mand.  This  joke  on  me  was  a  delight  to  him. 

When  he  was  a  guest  at  my  house  for  several 
days,  or  a  member  of  a  house  party,  his  flow 
of  genial  spirits  began  at  the  breakfast  table 
and  continued  uninterrupted  all  day.  He 
seemed  to  feel  as  if  he  were  on  a  vacation,  and 
had  the  joyous  spirit  of  a  big  boy  home  from 
school,  always  looking  after  the  comfort  of 
others,  with  never,  apparently,  a  thought  for 
himself.  An  ideal  home-body  was  William 
McKinley,  and  the  American  fireside  was  a 
shrine  of  worship  with  him. 

At  one  of  our  house  parties  we  had  a  flash 
light  photograph  taken  of  the  dinner  guests. 
He  was  particularly  fond  of  this  dinner  pic 
ture  because  it  contained  a  splendid  likeness 
of  Mrs.  McKinley. 


66  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

When  McKinley  laughed,  he  laughed  heartily 
all  over,  and  was  a  perfect  boy  in  his  enjoy 
ment.  In  all  the  social  visits  to  my  home,  it 
was  an  inspiration  to  me  to  see  the  way  he 
could  throw  off  the  cares  of  the  day.  It  al 
ways  made  me  feel  twenty  years  younger  to 
spend  a  social  evening  with  him,  and  I  can 
not  begin  to  measure  the  depth  and  value  of 
this  friendship  to  me  entirely  aside  from  his 
public  career. 


He  was  never  much  inclined,  I  believe,  to 
take  an  active  part  in  athletics,  though  his 
simple,  normal  habits  of  life  kept  him  always 
in  excellent  condition  physically  and  mentally. 
He  proved  the  enduring  sturdiness  of  his 
frame  by  his  hard  service  in  the  Civil  War, 
and  by  the  tremendous  amount  of  labor  which 
he  afterward  put  into  the  study  and  presen 
tation  of  public  questions.  He  was,  of  course, 
interested  in  the  notable  athletic  contests  that 
the  college  boys  held,  but  it  was  as  late  as  1894 
that  he  and  I  witnessed  together  our  first  game 
of  football  —  a  Princeton- Yale  game  at  New 
York. 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      67 

It  was  a  drizzling,  cold  day,  but  he  watched 
every  movement  of  the  game  from  the  club 
house  with  as  keen  interest  as  he  gave  to  a 
debate  in  congress. 

When  some  mysterious  movement  in  a  "  pile- 
up  ' '  was  made  he  would  turn  and  ask  me  about 
it,  but  I  had  to  shake  my  head  and  confess  it 
was  my  first  game  and  that  it  was  all  Greek 
to  me. 

He  told  me  how  he  felt  like  the  country  boy 
who  went  to  a  college  football  game  for  the 
first  time,  to  see  the  "real  thing."  When 
asked  how  he  liked  it,  the  country  boy  naively 
replied  : 

"They  didn't  have  no  game;  they  got  into  a 
scrap  and  kept  fightin'  all  the  time  when  they 
ought  to  have  been  playing  ball." 

At  this  football  game  there  was  little  to 
foreshadow  what  was  written  in  the  political 
horizon  two  years  later,  but  I  do  recall  that  he 
seemed  to  be  especially  popular  with  the  sturdy 
young  collegians,  one  of  whom  remarked  to 
his  companion  as  they  passed  by  us: 

"Who  is  that  distinguished  looking  man  — 
the  one  that  looks  like  Napoleon?" 


68  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

The  late  President  was  particularly  fond  of 
a  good  play,  and  when  he  would  come  to  stay 
with  me  at  Cleveland  over  night,  he  would  al 
ways  inquire :  "  Is  there  anything  good  at  your 
opera  house  tonight,  Mark?" 

We  enjoyed  many  pleasant  evenings  to 
gether.  He  delighted  in  meeting  the  promi 
nent  actors,  and  was  very  fond  of  Joseph 
Jefferson.  Many  an  hour  have  they  chatted 
together,  and  Jefferson  never  failed  to  call 
and  see  him  when  in  Washington.  Sol  Smith 
Russell  was  another  friend.  The  drama  of 
high  standard  was  to  him  a  relief  from  worri- 
ments  of  the  day  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  as 
a  relaxation.  He  delighted  to  discuss  with 
these  play-folks  their  art,  and  how  actors,  like 
men  in  public  life,  had  to  cater  to  public  wishes 
and  how  much  their  influence  meant  in  pro 
ducing  plays  of  healthful  purpose  and  moral 
teaching.  Mrs.  McKinley  was  also  very  fond 
of  the  theater;  he  always  delighted  to  indulge 
her,  and  they  spent  many  happy  evenings  to 
gether  witnessing  the  best  plays  that  were  on 
the  boards. 

He  never  tired  of  seeing  Jefferson  in  ' '  Rip 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      69 

Van  Winkle"  and  "  The  Cricket  on  the  Hearth," 
which  were  undoubtedly  his  favorite  plays. 

"  Mark,  you  meet  as  many  distinguished 
men  as  owner  of  an  opera  house  as  you  do  as 
Senator,"  he  would  jokingly  remark  after  a 
chat  with  an  actor.  He  always  seemed  to 
have  a  keen  scent  for  talent  in  any  profession 
and  was  quick  to  recognize  genius.  The  psy 
chological  study  the  actor  made  in  portray 
ing  human  nature  before  the  footlights  was  to 
him  fascinating.  The  personality  of  these 
men  on  the  stage  he  believed  had  a  potent  in 
fluence  on  the  public  mind.  He  never  tired  of 
high-class  dramas;  he  was  especially  fond  of 
Shakespeare's  plays,  and  always  attended 
thoroughly  "  read  up."  He  would  often  chide 
me  for  not  being  more  carefully  posted  on  the 
original  Shakespearean  text,  but  I  was  most 
concerned  in  the  play  as  staged. 

How  well  I  remember  how  he  enjoyed  wit 
nessing  the  play  entitled  "The  Politician," 
during  his  second  campaign  for  governor  of 
Ohio.  We  sat  together  in  a  box.  Roland  Reed, 
who  played  the  "Politician"  and  who  is  now 
dead,  directed  his  remarks  straight  at  us,  and 


70  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

McKinley  enjoyed  his  hits  immensely.  The 
actor  brought  in  impromptu  points  and  so  gen 
erously  improvised  the  speaking  part  that  it 
seemed  as  if  the  actors  and  audience  were  hav 
ing  an  "  aside"  all  to  themselves  at  our  expense. 


A  man  of  more  generous  impulses  than 
William  McKinley  never  lived.  When  cases 
were  presented  to  him  for  relief  that  were 
beyond  his  ability  to  meet,  he  would  apply 
to  me  or  some  of  his  friends  for  assistance  in 
aiding  worthy  persons,  and  his  friends  were 
always  glad  to  respond  to  these  appeals.  He 
was  liberal  without  stint.  It  gave  him  actual 
physical  pain  to  see  anyone  suffering  or  in  dis 
tress,  and  on  such  occasions  he  showed  his  great 
faith  in  friendship,  never  hesitating  to  go  to 
any  bounds  in  an  appeal  for  others.  What 
ever  he  had  in  his  pocket,  whether  it  was  ten 
cents  or  ten  dollars,  he  was  always  ready  to 
give  it  to  relieve  distress.  If  the  applicant 
only  required  fifty  cents  and  the  Major  had 
ten  dollars  in  his  pocket,  the  applicant  would 
get  the  ten.  He  did  not  know  such  a  thing 
as  taking  change  from  charity. 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      71 

Though  he  had  no  especial  training  in  music, 
no  person  was  more  partial  to  it  than  William 
McKinley.  And  his  tastes  were  as  catholic  as 
a  child's.  Anything  from  a  hurdygurdy  to 
grand  opera  pleased  him.  He  would  keep  his 
hands  or  feet  beating  time  whenever  there  was 
music  about  him.  I  recall  many  Sunday  even 
ing  home  concerts.  Every  one  was  singing, 
and  he  would  call  for  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to 
Thee"  and  "Lead,  Kindly  Light."  The 
radiance  on  his  face  when  he  sang  those  old 
favorite  hymns,  as  if  his  whole  soul  was  in  it, 
is  to  me  a  sacred  memory  picture  of  William 
McKinley. 

He  would  urge  me  to  try  to  sing  and  insisted 
I  had  a  sweet  tenor  voice,  but  the  pleasant 
charm  of  the  happy  occasions  was  never 
marred  by  my  vocal  efforts. 

I  knew  I  could  not  sing,  but  I  listened;  the 
echoes  of  those  happy  hours  will  linger  with 
me  as  long  as  I  live.  The  little  singing  parties 
in  our  home  after  dinner  were  always  his 
delight. 


I   had    the    closest    revelations    of  William 


72  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

McKinley's  character,  I  think,  in  our  quiet 
hours  of  smoking  and  chatting,  when  all  the 
rest  had  retired.  Far  past  midnight  we  have 
sat  many  times  talking  over  those  matters 
which  friends  always  discuss  —  and  the  closer 
I  came  to  the  man,  the  more  lovable  his  char 
acter  appeared.  Every  time  we  met  there 
was  revealed  the  gentle,  growing  greatness  of 
a  man  who  knew  men,  respected  them  and 
loved  them.  Never  was  it  the  personal  inter 
ests  of  William  McKinley  that  he  discussed, 
but  those  of  friends,  or  his  party,  and  above 
all,  of  the  people.  His  clear-cut  conscientious 
ness  was  pronounced.  In  these  heart-to-heart 
talks  —  friend  to  friend  —  in  the  calm  serenity 
of  the  night's  quiet  hours,  we  felt  the  ties  of  our 
life's  friendship  growing  stronger  as  we  simply 
sat  and  puffed  and  looked  in  each  other's  faces. 
These  home  smoke-chats  are  the  treasured 
memories  of  a  man  who  loved  mankind  much 
more  than  he  did  himself  and  who  had  conse 
crated  his  career  to  the  people.  He  always 
was  interested  in  business  and  industrial  af 
fairs  and  understood  them  as  few  men  did  in 
their  relation  to  the  home  comforts  and  happi- 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      73 

ness  of  the  American  people.  It  was  in  these 
quiet  hours  together  that  the  splendid  devo 
tion  of  the  man  to  high  and  noble  ideals  showed 
clearest.  I  think  that  a  reminiscent  glance 
at  our  smoke-chat  meetings  night  after  night, 
wherever  we  chanced  to  be,  reveals  to  me 
most  freely  the  great  qualities  in  the  man 
whom  the  world  has  so  profoundly  honored. 
I  can  see  that  kindly,  quizzical  look  in  his 
deep  blue  eyes  under  his  bushy  eyebrows,  when 
he  broke  the  silence  after  meditating: 

"  Mark,  this  seems  to  be  right  and  fair  and 
just.  I  think  so,  don't  you?"  His  " don't 
you?"  or  "did  you?"  always  had  a  tone  that 
invited  candid  confidence,  and  this  is  a  pecu 
liarity  that  brings  back  to  my  memory  some 
incidents  of  our  acquaintanceship  in  early 
years  that  seemed  to  foreshadow  his  future. 

Looking  back  over  the  long  years  of  asso 
ciation  with  William  McKinley,  nothing  seems 
to  stand  out  more  prominently  than  the  hearty 
and  sunny  way  in  which  he  always  enjoyed 
the  friendly  hours  of  recreation.  These  pleas 
ant  episodes  of  a  purely  personal  nature  are 
emphasized  more  and  more  as  I  think  of  him, 


74  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

and  it  is  these  that  I  most  cherish  in  the  memory 
of  the  man.  His  greatness  as  a  statesman  was 
but  the  reflection  of  his  greatness  as  a  man. 
William  McKinley  was  faultless  in  his 
friendships. 

III.  IN  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 
I  came  to  Washington  a  few  days  in  advance 
of  the  inauguration  in  1897  to  make  the  final 
arrangements  as  chairman  of  the  National 
Committee.  How  well  I  remember  the  morn 
ing  of  McKinley's  arrival,  as  I  went  to  the 
Ebbitt  House  to  meet  him.  He  had  stopped 
at  this  hotel  for  many  years  as  a  Congressman, 
and  was  now  a  guest  as  President.  I  was 
particularly  impressed  on  meeting  the  same 
McKinley  that  I  had  seen  so  often  before  in 
his  room  at  the  hotel  while  a  member  of  Con 
gress.  There  was  nothing  in  his  manner  or 
appearance  to  denote  that  any  change  what 
ever  had  come  over  him ;  there  was  nothing  in 
his  expression  of  the  exultation  of  success  or 
political  victory  or  personal  prestige.  If  there 
was  any  difference  it  was  that  he  appeared  to 
me  more  serious,  more  warmly  sympathetic, 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      75 

in  the  gentle  dignity  that  came  upon  him  under 
the  weight  of  the  great  responsibilities  before 
him.  It  would  have  taken  a  close  observer  to 
discover  that  he  was  other  than  the  old  mem 
ber  of  Congress  from  Ohio  quietly  assuming 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  an  everyday 
routine  in  the  work  which  he  loved.  He 
greeted  me  with  the  same  sweet  smile  and 
hearty  handshake  which  I  had  known  so  well 
for  thirty  years  past,  and  I  could  scarcely 
realize  that  he  had  become  the  ruler  of  the 
greatest  nation  on  earth  and  that  he  was  still 
to  remain  the  same  confidential  and  loving 
friend  as  in  the  old  days. 

After  the  pomp  and  ceremony  of  the  in 
auguration  was  over  he  appeared  to  slip  into 
his  place  with  an  ease  and  grace  that  told  the 
story  to  every  one  over  again  that  had  been 
proclaimed  so  effectively  during  the  campaign 
just  closed,  —  that  William  McKinley,  of  all 
men,  at  this  time  exactly  "fitted  the  situa 
tion." 


Immediately   after   Congress   was   called   in 
extraordinary   session   in    1897,    to   begin   the 


76  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

business  in  hand,  to  fulfill  the  promises  made 
by  the  Republican  party.  The  changed  con 
ditions  of  the  country  seemed  to  engross  his 
concentrated  attention  day  after  day,  hour 
after  hour,  morning,  noon  and  night.  In  all 
his  talk  and  conversation  with  me  there  was 
one  supreme  purpose,  and  that  was  to  bring 
the  nation  back  to  the  old  anchorage  of  sound 
money  and  a  protective  policy.  His  work 
from  day  to  day  was  laid  out  with  the  system 
and  care  of  an  architect  or  an  artisan  who  had 
specific  duties  before  him.  The  Dingley  Bill 
was  almost  ready  for  the  House,  and  in  shap 
ing  and  advising  along  this  policy,  keeping  in 
mind  prosperity  for  the  people  as  the  one  great 
desired  object,  he  was  always  at  his  best  and 
always  enthusiastic.  For  the  first  few  months 
of  his  administration  his  whole  time  was  taken 
up  in  dealing  with  a  proposition  concerning 
which  he  was  an  acknowledged  expert,  and 
more  than  that,  involving  a  labor  of  love  which 
seemed  to  be  more  apparent  in  his  work  than 
a  sense  of  perfunctorily  performing  executive 
duties.  He  was,  in  fact,  enthusiastic  in  this 
work  and  had  a  happy,  cheery  way  of  meeting 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      77 

old  friends  as  well  as  new  acquaintances  that 
had  always  stood  by  him  in  so  many  fights  for 
the  principles  of  protection;  happy  especially 
because  in  every  outstretched  hand  that  came 
to  greet  him  there  was  a  pledge  of  loyalty  and 
support  which  made  him  feel  strong  and  fixed 
in  his  determination  to  do  his  utmost  for  his 
country's  good.  It  was  not  merely  a  general 
ized  or  theorized  purpose  of  patriotism  that 
inspired  him;  he  appeared  always  to  have  the 
specific  and  concrete  interest  of  the  people  as 
individuals  in  mind  when  he  undertook  to 
solve  the  great  questions  of  public  welfare. 

In  those  days  his  social  life  was  a  happy  one 
because  his  dear  wife  caught  the  inspiration  of 
the  work  in  hand  and  in  the  new  environment 
her  own  life  had  been  brightened.  She  was 
personally  interested  in  those  things  which 
have  made  the  White  House  a  bright  reflection 
of  ideal  American  home  life.  Her  interest  in 
those  matters  was  especially  appreciated  by 
the  devoted  husband,  who  seemed  to  feel  that 
the  great  purpose  of  all  American  policies 
should  concentrate  in  the  betterment  of  con 
ditions  of  the  American  home  and  fireside. 


78  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

After  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  about 
the  first  of  August,  1897,  the  President  took  a 
much-needed  vacation  of  a  few  weeks,  but 
during  all  that  time  was  constantly  engrossed 
with  work.  He  never  seemed  to  quite  throw 
off  the  serious  purpose  that  had  been  inter 
woven  in  all  the  acts  of  his  public  career.  Im 
mediately  after  his  return  to  Washington  he 
began  the  preparation  of  outlining  in  written 
data  and  notes  the  fixed  ideas  expressing  his 
own  line  of  policy  which  was  destined  to  be  of 
so  great  benefit  to  his  country  and  to  human 
ity  as  well.  When  Congress  reassembled  in 
December,  1897,  he  had  fully  made  his  fore 
cast  and  was  prepared  to  meet  in  a  masterful 
way  the  questions  of  the  hour. 

The  country  knows  only  too  well  how 
quickly  he  grasped  the  serious  situation  that 
came  up  later  in  the  island  of  Cuba  and  led 
to  the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish  war.  It  was 
during  these  trying  days  that  I  saw  President 
McKinley  in  a  new  light.  As  difficulties  mul 
tiplied  and  responsibilities  increased  he  seemed 
to  grow  even  more  masterful  and  self-reliant. 
As  close  as  we  had  been  as  personal  friends,  each 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him      79 

day  seemed  to  unfold  some  hitherto  unobserved 
strength  of  character  and  nobility  of  purpose. 
Under  these  conditions,  I  was  forcibly  re 
minded  of  the  criticisms  that  had  been  made 
at  an  earlier  time  when  his  candidacy  for  the 
presidency  was  discussed.  It  was  claimed 
that  McKinley  was  a  man  of  a  single  idea ;  that 
he  was  an  expert  on  tariff  matters  only  and 
that  his  claims  to  statesmanship  were  con 
fined  to  his  advocacy  of  the  policies  and  prin 
ciples  of  protection.  Later  developments 
proved  this  to  be  far  from  the  truth.  There 
was  not  a  detail  or  a  situation  in  any  branch 
of  the  government  with  which  he  came  into 
contact  that  he  did  not  fully  fathom  and  mas 
ter.  The  intricate  and  unprecedented  ques 
tions  growing  out  of  the  war  situation  he  met 
in  much  the  same  way  that  he  did  as  a  young 
lawyer  in  solving  the  intricacies  of  the  case 
before  him.  While  he  had  a  loyal  and  efficient 
cabinet,  he  always  led  in  the  newer  proposi 
tions  presented.  His  judgment  never  faltered, 
nor  did  he  fail  to  awaken  enthusiastic  support 
in  all  with  whom  he  came  into  contact.  In 
fact,  his  influence  with  men  grew  so  strong 


8o  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

that  the  whole  Congress  of  the  United  States 
was  ready  to  follow  his  leadership  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  the  conduct  of  the  war,  having 
perfect  faith  in  his  patriotism,  tried  and  true, 
and  his  ability,  which  had  time  and  again  with 
stood  the  crucial  test. 

One  of  the  remarkable  things  concerning 
his  whole  administration  was  this  personal 
confidence  and  esteem  which  he  universally 
inspired  and  so  well  earned  from  every  man  of 
both  political  parties  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States.  In  all  the  upheavals  brought 
about  by  the  conditions  and  new  questions  grow 
ing  out  of  the  war,  the  problem  of  insular 
possessions  and  our  relations  with  Cuba,  the 
influence  of  his  personality  never  changed  or 
relaxed  while  his  life  lasted,  and  in  the  closing 
days  of  his  public  career  was  reached  the 
climax  of  a  pure  and  noble  life. 


During  the  hot,  sultry  days  of  August  in 
1898,  William  McKinley  continued  unceas 
ingly  his  long  hours  of  labor  at  the  White 
House.  Night  after  night  found  him  at  work 
if  there  were  pressing  matters  at  hand,  and 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him        81 

usually  there  were  problems  of  the  gravest 
importance  demanding  his  attention  as  com- 
mander-in-chief.  Often  I  would  go  over  to 
the  White  House  and  sit  with  him  on  the  south 
porch  when  he  had  finished  his  work,  with 
various  members  of  Congress  or  cabinet  mem 
bers,  and  in  the  long  Summer  evenings  we  would 
enjoy  those  little  friendly  gatherings  far  past 
midnight.  He  seemed  to  consider  these  brief 
hours  of  recreation  as  well  worth  the  arduous 
labors  of  the  long  day.  During  these  meetings 
he  had  little  to  say  of  the  serious  and  sad 
things  of  life,  but  was  always  an  optimist  and 
his  enthusiasm  was  infectious.  He  was  par 
ticularly  fond  of  telling  and  listening  to  stories 
and  cracking  jokes,  always  in  that  good- 
humored  and  gentle  way  which  never  pos 
sessed  the  rapier  touch  of  satire  or  temper. 


Perhaps  the  greatest  strain  upon  William 
McKinley  during  his  whole  life  was  the  few 
months  prior  to  the  declaration  of  war.  The 
suspense  of  the  situation  in  getting  at  all  the 
facts  wore  upon  him,  and  his  patience  under 
distressing  circumstances  always  appeared  to 


82  Mark  Hanna  :  His  Book 

me  saintly.  But  when  war  was  finally  de 
clared,  and  the  inevitable  came  upon  us,  his 
whole  manner  changed.  Everything  else  was 
cast  aside  to  do  with  all  his  might  what  had  to 
be  done  in  pushing  the  war.  He  settled  down 
in  that  quiet,  serious  and  determined  way 
which  emphasized  his  mastery  of  the  prob 
lems  before  him.  How  often  I  have  watched 
him  in  those  thoughtful  moods.  He  would 
remain  silent  for  some  time  and  seeming  to 
commune  with  himself  —  "  think  it  out,"  as 
he  would  jokingly  remark.  And  when  he  had 
settled  the  matter  fully  in  his  own  mind,  his 
old  natural  manner  would  come  back  with  a 
rebound  and  he  was  again  the  same  smiling, 
sweet  and  gentle  companion. 

His  unvarying  habit  was,  when  advising 
with  any  one  in  matters  of  state  or  serious 
import,  to  first  find  out  what  the  other  fellow 
thought.  On  this  situation  he  always  seemed 
to  build  his  premises,  and  he  had  a  faculty  of 
getting  it  out  of  you  somehow  or  other;  some 
times  he  would  approve  and  sometimes  he 
would  say  nothing,  but  he  was  always  an  earnest 
seeker  after  the  truth  and  the  facts,  seeming 


William  McKinley  as  I  Knew  Him        83 

entirely  to  obliterate  his  personal  prejudices 
in  his  eagerness  to  arrive  at  a  just  and  equi 
table  conclusion. 


I  have  often  observed  how  he  never  with 
held  his  sympathy  in  any  case,  no  matter  how 
small  or  inconsequential  it  might  be.  There 
was  a  particularly  interesting  incident  in  his 
desiring  to  appoint  an  old  school  friend  to  a 
small  postoffice  in  one  of  the  western  states. 
The  lady  was  a  widow  and  needed  the  income 
toward  the  support  of  herself  and  family,  but 
the  Congressman  had  previously  recommended 
for  the  position  a  man  who  had  been  of  some 
service  to  him  in  his  congressional  campaign. 
For  a  time  there  was  an  indication  of  feeling 
growing  out  of  the  matter  and  it  appeared  like 
a  curious  commentary  upon  the  power  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  when  he  was 
unable  to  control  the  appointment  to  a  fourth- 
class  postoffice,  under  the  inexorable  un 
written  law  of  precedent.  But  the  situation 
was  soon  solved  when  the  Congressman  held 
a  conference  with  William  McKinley.  The 
President  had  made  an  effective  plea  with  the 


84  Mark  Hanna:  His  Book 

irritated  and  annoyed  member,  who  had 
resented  interference  with  his  absolute  pre 
rogative  when  fanned  into  temper  by  out 
siders  ;  but  the  President  won  his  point  for  the 
old  school  friend  and  none  were  more  cheerful 
parties  to  the  plan  than  the  Congressman  and 
disappointed  candidate  for  the  postoffice. 
They  had  felt  the  touch  of  human  sympathy 
such  as  William  McKinley  could  always  in 
spire. 


William  McKinley  was  the  incarnation  of 
the  best  and  purest  statesmanship,  which,  I 
believe,  exists  in  every  American.  His  quali 
ties  that  inspired  in  me  a  close  personal  friend 
ship  were  given  with  the  same  unstinted  grace 
and  generosity  to  every  individual  that  came 
within  the  influence  of  his  personality,  no 
matter  how  remote  or  how  humble  that  in 
dividual  might  be.  His  career  is  a  treasured 
heritage  of  the  human  race,  and  marks  the 
beginning  of  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of 
the  United  States. 


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